A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan

Chapter and Year	Characters
Chapter 1	Sasha – 35 years old Coz - therapist Alex – date Bennie Salazar – record producer ·         Stephanie – wife – divorced ·         Christopher - son
Chapter 2 2006	Bennie – 44 Chris – 9 Sasha Stop/Go Sisters
Chapter 3 1979 High School	Rhea – narrator Scotty Bennie Jocelyn Lou – adult man in LA – picked up Jocelyn hitchhiking
Chapter 4 1973 Safari	Lou – 6 kids – record producer Mindy – 23 – girlfriend – studying for Ph.D. in Anthropology, will marry Lou Rolph – son – 11 Charlie – 14 – daughter Joe – grandson of warrior who flirted with Charlie Cora – travel agent Albert – local driver Chronos – attacked by lion when leaves tour car
Chapter 5 1999	Jocelyn – narrator Rhea – 43 Lou – 2 strokes
Chapter 6 1997	Scotty – narrator – takes dead fish to Bennie Bennie
Chapter 7 2003 - 2004	Stephanie Bennie – 42 Chris – kindergarten La Doll – owner of PR agency where Stephanie works Jules Jones – Stephanie’s brother – ex con – attempted rape of Kitty Jackson
Chapter 8 2009	Dolly – formally La Doll Lulu – 9 – daughter The General Arc – General’s human relations captain Kitty Jackson – 28
Chapter 9 1999	Kitty Jackson Jules Jones
Chapter 10	Rob – narrator – drowned swimming in river with Drew Drew Sasha – 21 – freshman
Chapter 11	Sasha – 19 -  disappeared two years ago Ted Hollander – Sasha’s uncle – looking for Sasha in Napes, Italy Susan – Ted’s wife Beth – Sasha’s mother Hammer – Beth’s second husband
Chapter 12 202_ Power Point	Sasha Drew - doctor Alison Blake – 12 – Sasha and Drew’s daughter Lincoln – 13 – obsessed with pauses in rock songs
Chapter 13 2020+	Bennie – late 50’s Lupa – wife Ava - daughter Alex – Sasha’s date from chapter 1 Rebecca – wife Cara – daughter Scotty Hausmann – singer – chapter 6 Lulu – Bennie’s assistant – early 20s –chapter 8 Joe – Lulu’s fiancé – from Kenya – chapter 4 “Pointers” – children - anyone could download music who could point Starfish or Kiddie Handsets – used by toddlers to download music

 

For discussion:

1. Discuss the various characters.  Who did you like, dislike? 

2. Discuss La Doll’s New Year’s Eve party, The Party or the List, where she tried to rival Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball.  Did you find it interesting that years later people where burning themselves in order to make it appear that they had been there?
1. Could the hot oil have been symbolic of something?

3. Did you like the way the writer would tell what would happen to a character far into the future?

4. In the last chapter which predicted the future, what was the “water wall” that caused an early sunset?

5. In the last chapter, Alex and Rebecca’s view from their window was being obstructed by a new high rise.    Is the author sending a message?

6. What do you think about the author’s prediction about the future of the entertainment industry as well as our use of electronics and media?
1. Strollers prohibited at all public gatherings – hampered evacuation
2. Constant helicopters overhead
3. The use of texting and texting language
4. Alison creating a power point show and considering that writing

7. What is the significance of the title?

8. Think about your reading experience with this book:
1. Were you able to keep the characters straight?
2. Did you like how an early minor character (Joe, Scotty) became important later in the book?
3. How hard did you have to work to keep the time line straight?  Would it have added or detracted from your enjoyment if the author had been more direct?

9. This book won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction as well as other numerous awards.  Do you think the honors were deserved?