A Visit from the Goon Squad Study Guide

Jennifer Egan is an acclaimed American novelist and short story writer, born on September 7, 1962, in Chicago, Illinois. She grew up in San Francisco and later attended the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in English literature. Egan also spent two years at St. John's College, Cambridge, on a Thouron Award scholarship. Her literary career has been marked by a distinctive ability to experiment with narrative structure and style.

Egan's notable works include "The Invisible Circus" (1995), "Look at Me" (2001), "The Keep" (2006), and "Manhattan Beach" (2017). However, she is perhaps best known for her novel "A Visit from the Goon Squad" (2010), which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Historical and Literary Context for "A Visit from the Goon Squad"

"A Visit from the Goon Squad" emerged during a time of significant change in the publishing industry, coinciding with the rise of digital technology and social media. The novel's fragmented structure and innovative use of various narrative techniques, including a chapter written entirely in PowerPoint slides, reflect the evolving nature of storytelling in the digital age.

The book consists of thirteen interrelated stories that span different time periods and perspectives, all connected to the music industry. It explores themes of aging, the passage of time, and the impact of technology on human relationships. Egan's characters grapple with their pasts and the inevitable changes brought by the "goon squad" of time, making the novel resonate with the uncertainties and transformations of the 21st century.

Egan's work falls within the postmodern literary tradition, characterized by its non-linear narrative, metafictional elements, and thematic complexity. "A Visit from the Goon Squad" stands out for its innovative approach to storytelling, capturing the zeitgeist of the early 21st century and examining the interplay between personal history and broader cultural shifts.

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