ILX Book Club - Jennifer Egan: A Visit from the Goon Squad

i reread this a while ago, i acquired a beat-up copy of it from the bookshelf of someone i had a thing with who is now no longer in my life, it seemed appropriate

saw someone reading this on the train yesterday. reminded me that i enjoyed it and i was slightly surprised by some of the heavily adverse criticism it got in places.

The last few chapters let the book down very badly, imo

I probably made my feelings about this book known here years ago.

What I’ll say in its favor: the stuff about “what future generations might be like” has stayed with me, it made an impression.

Anyone read the Candy House?

Pauses in songs seems like a thread for ILM. A Faulty Chromosome has a good example. I think they were from Texas and existed when myspace existed. I think there is still a case for music from the suburbs. Does anyone have an equivalent for Croyden in the United States? Could it be compared to Brooklyn?

Do you mean the UK borough of Croydon?

It's somewhat comparable to Brooklyn but realistically Brooklyn might be better compared to the whole of South or South-East London.

Yes. Are any of the subjects in the Michael Apted 7 up series from SE London? It seems like a place where there would be enthusiasm for English breakfasts with toast racks and crumb catchers/sweepers as well as football clubs.

It turns out that A Faulty Chromosome are originally from Los Angeles, the original suburb (based on some notion of cars and sprawl).

The Candy House, so far, is a better book.

I must read it!

books. lots of books.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/interactive/2023/jennifer-egan-home-library/?itid=hp-top-table-main_p001_f005