Book Club

[MarnieRez3]

Hello dear readers,

Has anyone read Jennifer Egan? I was completely blown away by her Pulitizer Prize-winning book A Visit From the Goon Squad.

I just bought The Candy House, her newest book, and it is equally phenomenal. I highly recommend this author - her books are like nothing I have ever read before.

[PickyPicky3]

Sounds interesting @MarnieRez3 . What makes Goon Squad so different?

[MarnieRez3]

@PickyPicky3

She uses all types of unexpected formats within her chapters; one was a complete Power Point presentation and another was a magazine profile, (within the novel.) And, she somehow connects all her characters, albeit very loosely, to two characters, although those two characters are not the central focus of the book.
It's a very non-linear narrative format, but I found it so compelling.

[gardenman]

You lost me at "non-linear." I prefer books that have a beginning, middle, and end, and that flow from one to the other. Esquire used to have a yearly literature contest (they may still do it; I no longer subscribe) and their winning stories were often so non-linear I'd have no idea what they were about. I remember reading the "winning" story one year and going back and rereading it several times to try and figure out what the heck it was about. To me, it was gibberish. To the judges of the contest, it was genius. Eh, okay. I don't get a lot of modern art either, so I may be living too much in the past. 

A story with Power Point presentations, magazine profiles, and more is not for me. I just like a story to be a story. They should have a beginning, middle, and end if they're going to appeal to me. It's all a question of personal taste, but that's what I prefer.

[MarnieRez3]

@gardenman
Yes, it's not a book for everyone.