Time's a goon, right? Isn't that the expression?
A Visit from the Goon Squad is a bestselling 2010 novel by Jennifer Egan, about an aging former punk-rock star named Bennie and his kleptomaniac assistant, Sasha. Each chapter is told from a different viewpoint, revealing the past and future of Bennie and Sasha as well as the various people in their lives, nearly all of whom work in the music industry.
This book contains examples of:
- Anachronic Order: The narrative of the novel is completely scattered, and the chapters jump around in time.
- Ate His Gun: Rolph.
- Bungled Suicide: Bosco wants to kill himself on his Suicide Tour, but ends up surviving and running a dairy farm.
- Hello, Nurse!: Nearly every male character lusts after Sasha at some point.
- I Was Quite a Looker: Almost everybody, in the later chapters.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Bennie.
- Love Dodecahedron: Rhea loves Bennie, who loves Alice, who loves Scotty, who loves Jocelyn, who loves Lou.
- May-December Romance: Lou, with both Jocelyn and Mindy.
- Painting the Medium: One chapter is presented as a Power Point, another as a footnote-ridden article in a magazine.
- Sticky Fingers: Sasha is a kleptomaniac.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Rolph, and the girl who narrates the Power Point chapter.
- Villain with Good Publicity: General B. aspires to be one.
- Your Cheating Heart: Mindy with Albert, Bennie with Kathy.