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Comments (77)

Community comments are the opinions of contributing users. These comments do not represent the opinions of Vancouver Public Library.
What did you think about this title?
1 to 25 of 77 items
Mar 22, 2024
I wanted the book for one reason: To read the multi-layered story "Safari." It is a wonderfully crafted, rich, multi-layered story. Reading the rest of the book is unnecessary to engage this section. "Safari" stands on its own.
Mar 03, 2024torjie rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
Horrible book. Im still trying to finish it but dont know if I can stick with it.The "I go", "she goes", "he goes" is annoying enough in real life but worse in print.
Feb 15, 2024LadyDi52 rated this title 1.5 out of 5 stars
The male characters in this book are old-school sexist; strange since the author is female.
Jan 01, 2024dgiard rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Jennifer Egan's "A Visit from the Goon Squad" is a collection of short stories that feels like a novel. Eagan tells each story about different people; she tells each from a different point of view; and she writes each in a different…
Dec 16, 2023NedSu rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Though this novel is decidely out of my usual reading zone, count me as one of the impressed. I'm not sure what criteria they use for Pullet Surprises, but after a few chapters, I was all in. As in life, there are a multiplicity of…
Sep 05, 2023kmcartcart rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I ripped through this book in a few days. Honestly surprised by the negative reviews, but I am not bothered by shifting narrators/timelines and reading carefully to find a through line between the stories. Agreed with another reviewer that…
Jul 13, 2023ekhdong rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Great whirling book. Lots of styles and time frames.
Feb 27, 2023Griffeth rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This book opens with the reader plunked down unceremoniously with a young kleptomaniac out on a first date, and hardly stops for breath from there as the focus shifts from narrator to narrator, whizzing back and forth in time and place…
Feb 25, 2023rexhazell rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Great book! One of the funniest books I've read in a long time. The kind of book you don't want to read all at once, because you don't want it to end. Highly recommended! But if you can't walk and chew gum at the same time, you might not…
Jan 08, 2023JBineham rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
This book is not a novel; it is a collection of short stories. They don't have a narrative arc that the reader can follow. Because of this, the characters are less developed and less interesting.
Nov 30, 2022
earlier book by nyt 10
Oct 26, 2022
The Goon Squad is time.
Sep 16, 2022bdr2835 rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Lost track of the characters and didn't really care about them anyway. Probably not aimed at my demographic tbh but there's only so much self obsessed angst I can take before giving up.
Aug 27, 2022MoKevany rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
I honestly did try to enjoy this based on the rave reviews from critics, but failed miserably. It was hard to sort out who was who whenever they popped up in another’s story. Just what are critics looking for in a readable book?…
Aug 26, 2022xiaojunbpl12 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
A "sister" novel of The Candy House (where I detoured to suck the bittersweet out of tangles), no matter of reading either first. Zeitgeist of past, now, and near future. Character dots traced to a parabola only loops around to form…
Jul 31, 2022
I almost didn't get past the first chapter. But it got better in chapter 2. Then I couldn't put it down. I thought the PowerPoint chapter was ridiculous (and LONG), and skipped most of it. Then in the last chapter, the use of texting…
Jul 21, 2022Tdruid rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
I have never read a Pulitzer Prize winning novel that wasn’t so awful it was actually painful to read. I don’t know what those judges are smoking. This book is no exception. I endured 47 pages before I couldn’t take any more of male…
May 18, 2022photis rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
This book was jarring. The author is highly skilled for sure. I didn’t want to like it as much as I did. The way the stories and times and people circled each other was pretty neat. I did not completely understand what I was reading. This…
Apr 10, 2022
Read #1
Apr 06, 2022betsymarzoni rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I love books like this...character driven, told from multiple points of view and at different points in time. It is challenging to remember everyone when they pop up again, but that is one of the best parts of reading this novel. It keeps…
Mar 28, 2022
Recommended by Emily St. John Mandel as one of her favorite novels
Jun 10, 2020BARosen1112 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This multi-perspective story has some brilliant scenes, but it's lack of cohesiveness and too many characters - I lost track of how the characters were related to each other, which they mostly are - is a hindrance. If it's about anything,…
Mar 31, 2020
DGG: I also enjoyed Egan’s A Visit from The Goon Squad, the story of a record executive and the troubled young woman he employs. Note that there’s an “experimental” section towards the end that is all but impossible to read on the Kindle.
Mar 08, 2020sarahjgrant rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
This novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 2011. For that reason, I made myself proceed past the first two chapters despite a longing to pick up something else on my shelf. Ultimately, I am glad I persevered, although I found the novel uneven…
Jan 07, 2020garrettplummer rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Egan's novel is fragmented and inconsistent. The only redeemable quality of this clashing, often droning and incomprehensible story is the interjection of a published article by the story's protagonist(at least I think it was the…