a visit from the goon squad by Jennifer Egan

Eloquent, sarcastic, humorous, over the top - I hardly know what words to use to explain this 2011 Pulitzer prize winner for fiction. The story begins in the middle - with Bennie, a past punk rocker and present record executive and Sasha, his assistant and recovering kleptomanic. The story proceeds back and forth in time as if you are playing the wikipedia linked version of six degrees of separation. The story is slowly peeled away as we learn the past and future of these two characters and their companions. The writing is brilliantly out of the box - insightful and witty. One of the futuristic chapters is shared in a format that is vaguely power point. I'm not sure if the Pulitzer committee really liked this book or didn't want to admit that Egan had moved beyond their ability to evaluate it. I'm sure it baffled me. It might be that this is where the novel is headed but I just can't think of many authors who could pull this off. The "goon" in the title refers to "time" . I have no idea what the "good squad" referred to but I loved her writing enough to be willingly confused.