Ebook: Bookclub-In-A-Box Discusses a Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan

In the 1970s, Bennie Salazar was the bassist in a San Francisco punk band, the Flaming Dildos. Decades later, he finds his career as a record executive and his relevance in the industry are slowly fading— while his tastes remain the same, the music scene and the technology that creates it change rapidly around him. Sasha is his younger assistant, loyally keeping an increasingly forgetful Bennie on track, but struggling with her own aimlessness and a bad pick-pocketing impulse. Each chapter of the book is its own brilliantly crafted story, offering perspective on peripheral characters from Sasha's college friend Rob, to Bennie's destitute former band mate Scotty, to an entire chapter laid out as a PowerPoint presentation by Sasha's daughter, Alison. Moving from the 1970s to the 2020s and several places in between, A Visit From The Goon Squad shows how every encounter has the potential to change a life's direction, but no matter what you do, time is the one goon you can never avoid. The Bookclub-in-a-Box guide for Egan's book will spark discussion around the following topics: Egan's innovative structure and narrative techniques, the passing of time and its relationship to memory, characters in past and future, technology and a quick glimpse into the music industry then and now. Every Bookclub-in-a-Box discussion guide includes complete coverage of the themes and symbols, writing style and interesting background information on the novel and the author.