Book Log 2021 #3: A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

The goon squad in this book (which is either a novel or a series of linked short stories, though I tended to think of it as a novel) is a metaphorical reference to time, and how its relentless march spares no one. Each of the chapters shows how this assault plays on each of its characters (and the main linking character, a record producer). 

The book was highly praised, won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and made several lists of the top books of the decade.

And I didn't care for it at all.

I think I never really bought into the goon squad metaphor. To me, a goon squad comes in and causes immediate harm.  Time doesn't do that. Time is like a steady drip that slowly erodes. You don't notice changes day to day, but after a couple of decades pass you can really see what time's done to you.

I don't think that's the only reason I didn't like the book - I'm sure some of the characters rubbed me the wrong way - but it's likely the main one.