A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

The goon squad of the title refers to time and the novel which could loosely be described as being about the American music industry, deals with the treatment its characters receive at the hands of time. The novel zigzags from story to story and character to character across times and places: punk teenagers in 1970s San Francisco become disillusioned adults in the suburbs of 1990s New York and ultimately we see their children in an imagined future sometime in the 2020s. You need to keep your wits about you to fully appreciate this very clever and engaging novel – each chapter abandons the central plot of the preceding chapter, while holding onto at least one familiar character who serves as a springboard for setting another story in motion – but it really is worth the ride, or do I mean read?!