Book · 2010 · Fiction
A Visit from the Goon Squad
- mentions
- 27
- people
- 8
- podcasts
- 4
- episodes
- 9
- critical mentions
- 0
She is a novelist who has received many awards, including a Pulitzer Prize for A Visit from the Goon Squad, a kaleidoscope of a book about music and ambition and the nature of time and memory.
Stephen Dubner · Freakonomics Radio · Aug 2026 What they say about it
- Discusses sequel The Candy House“a followup to that book The Candy House”5
- Mentions Pulitzer Prize win“including a Pulitzer Prize for a visit from the Goon Squad”3
The best things said about it
It's a series of vignettes about these interconnected characters in the music industry.
Charles Duhigg This Week in Startups · Apr 2024 I'm finally reading A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan which is fantastic.
It has a lot of lateral movement. It's fragmentary storytelling.
Recently appeared on the New York Times's list of the best books of the 21st century.
Jennifer Egan talks about the candy house her sequel of sorts to her Pulitzer priz winning novel a visit from the Goon Squad.
There were multiple times and places but a general impulse to write about music and time.
Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
3
10
1
7
6
How it comes up
Most mentions, by podcast
8 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel told in a series of fragmentary, interconnected vignettes exploring time, music, ambition, and memory. Heidi Jivitz compared the reading experience of a different novel to Egan's work on The Book Review. Charles Duhigg recommended it on This Week as a brilliant non-writing book that teaches readers a great deal about narrative craft through its interconnected music-industry characters. Jon Favreau also recommended the novel as a fantastic read during an appearance on The Ezra Klein Show. Stephen Dubner and Jennifer Egan herself discussed the book on Freakonomics Radio, where Dubner highlighted its multi-award-winning status and described it as a kaleidoscope exploring ambition and the nature of time. Egan talked about the narrative's lateral movement, fragmentary storytelling, and offstage action, while Dubner noted the striking descriptions of older technology and devices within the text. Egan further explained her creative choices regarding the timeline and avoiding certain futuristic paths for the characters. Across these various literary discussions, podcasters and authors alike praised the novel for its structural innovation, emotional resonance, and brilliant handling of shifting perspectives across decades.
Every mention
Charles Duhigg but actually right now like a non-writing book that I think teaches you a lot about writing is a visit from… 1
Recommended
“but actually right now like a non-writing book that I think teaches you a lot about writing is a visit from the Goon Squad by Jenny Ean ah what what's the premise um so it's it's about it's it's a series of vignettes about these interconnected characters in the music industry”
Heidi Jivitz I feel when I read this book I felt the same way that I felt when I read um Jennifer Eagan a visit from the… 1
Recommended
“I feel when I read this book I felt the same way that I felt when I read um Jennifer Eagan a visit from the Goon Squad”
Jon Favreau and I'm finally reading a visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan which is fantastic 1
Recommended
“and I'm finally reading a visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan which is fantastic”
Gilbert Cruz this is the book review podcast and I'm Gilbert Cruz I'm here with Jenny Egan and we're talking about a vis… 10
Discussed
“today I'm joined by Jennifer Egan who released a visit from the Goon Squad in summer 2010 14 years ago in 2022 she put out a followup to that book The Candy House”
Discussed
“I'm joined this week by Jenny Egan and we're talking about her wonderful book a visit from the Goon Squad Jenny I had a assumed that the Goon Squad of the title referred to the David Bowie song fashion”
Discussed
“this is the book review podcast and I'm Gilbert Cruz I'm here with Jenny Egan and we're talking about a visit from the Goon Squad which recently appeared on the New York times's list of the best books of the 21st century”
Discussed
“this year she published her novel The Candy House a sort of sequel to a visit from the Goon Squad you don't have to read or reread goon squad to enjoy the candy house”
Discussed
“Jennifer Egan talks about the candy house her sequel of sorts to her Pulitzer priz winning novel a visit from the Goon Squad”
Discussed
“let's get to the connection at least briefly because many people were at the Goon Squad and enjoyed it and I've heard this book described as a sequel a sibling a followup”
Discussed
“because I it did strike me while reading it that it felt while there are definitely characters who appeared in good squad in it it felt more as if the structure is what has migrated and been continued”
Discussed
“in goon squad you very famously wrote a chapter in the form of a PowerPoint presentation in the candy house there is a chapter where a spy is being given instructions”
Discussed
“I have to ask because you in the prime of your career and you did mention that when you at the time you were on book tour for goon squad you were writing notes toward this book”
Discussed
“the new novel again is the Candy House a followup of whatever nature you want to describe it as to Jennifer eagan's pulit Sur prise winning novel a visit from the Goon Squad”
Jennifer Egan In fact, I so much didn't want to go into the future in Goon Squad that when I thought about how else I cou… 8
Discussed
“You know, having just written, for example, Goon Squad, which is very, it has a lot of lateral movement. It's fragmentary storytelling. A lot of the action is offstage.”
Discussed
“In fact, I so much didn't want to go into the future in Goon Squad that when I thought about how else I could revisit the future life of Sasha's one night stand from chapter one,”
Discussed
“because with all the good luck the Goon Squad had I knew that if it wasn't if this book wasn't pretty strong it was going to be perceived as a a kind of weak followup or a failure”
Discussed
“we met him briefly in a visit from lagon Squad”
Discussed
“the principle of both the candy house and a visit from lagon Squad is really just following my own curiosity into people's lives and Futures”
Discussed
“so my curiosity continued to be active even as goons Squad was being published”
Discussed
“for goons Squad there were multiple times and places but a general impulse to write about music and time”
Discussed
“so all I was doing was research amidst writing the keep and writing a visit from the Goon Squad you know in a way the experience of writing the keep helped me with this because that is a Gothic Thriller that takes place in a in a realm that doesn't exist in the real world”
Stephen Dubner She is a novelist who has received many awards, including a Pulitzer Prize for a visit from the Goon Squad,… 4
Discussed
“She is a novelist who has received many awards, including a Pulitzer Prize for a visit from the Goon Squad, a kaleidoscope of a book about music and ambition and the nature of time and memory.”
Discussed
“Reading Goon Squad again recently, I was just shocked at how your descriptions of what are called handsets then, right?”
Discussed
“So, as I understand it, the book that you are sort of returning to now is not The Candy House, not Goon Squad, but Manhattan Beach, yes?”
Discussed
“How many drafts were there for Goon Squad, let's say? Hard to say because I wrote it in a particulate way.”
Dwight Garner and this is the followup this novel The Candy House to a visit from the Goon Squad and a lot of people wrot… 1
Discussed
“and this is the followup this novel The Candy House to a visit from the Goon Squad and a lot of people wrote they thought the sequel was not as good as the first”
Pamela Paul so for those who have not read goons Squad very briefly describe that novel 1
Discussed
“so for those who have not read goons Squad very briefly describe that novel”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (10: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, Room by Emma Donoghue, and A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.”
Passing
“We are joined by Jennifer Eaggan, Pulitzer Prizewinning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jay McCannernney, author of the decade defining novel Bright Lights Big City, and David Gran, who has carved out a permanent piece of real estate on the bestseller list with his books The Wager and Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Passing
“Jenny Egan author of a visit from the Goon Squad and the candy house thank you so much for being on the book review podcast”
Passing
“well I'm I'm still slowly making my way through the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan after I read the candy house by Jennifer Egan over the Fourth of July six months ago and I I went through the candy house in like three days on vacation and then I've been back to reality and getting I got I got stuck”
Passing
“The novelist Jennifer Egan had been writing for a couple decades when she had a breakout hit with A Visit from the Goon Squad, which produced, among other things, a Pulitzer Prize.”
Passing
“The novelist Jennifer Egan is now in her mid-50s. Oh my gosh. By the time Egan won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for her book A Visit from the Goon Squad, she'd been writing for a couple decades.”
Passing
“That's the writer Jennifer Egan, who won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel A Visit from the Goon Squad.”
Passing
“Egan won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her 2010 novel, A Visit from the Goon Squad.”
Passing
“she is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of a visit from the Goon Squad as well as other novels and is a journalist as well who has written for the New York Times magazine as well as for the book review”
Passing
“this was a much anticipated followup to a visit from the Goon Squad and people have been waiting years and years for this novel”