desnoise:

“The thing that [Jennifer] Egan does that no other American writer I can think of pulls off, is to be formally daring without being even a little bit pretentious. She takes her stories in crazy twists down wild alleys, without ever let the book turn into a writing workshop experiment. Whenever I read something that is labeled “formally daring”, on each page I can feel the criticisms from the other graduate students shaping the story, I can feel information being withheld so the author won’t be accused of being pedantic by his fellow Yaddo inmates. And in the end every one of those damn books I read - from Michael Chabon to Josh Ferris - feels to me like it was written with an audience of grad students in mind rather than people who just want to enjoy a story and don’t need it pointing out to you every page how clever it is. The inventiveness of Egan never feels forced or show offy, but always like an author searching for what is the best possible way to express something about a character, with a mind that is nimble enough to range freely trying to answer that question.”

Richard Rushfield makes a very good point about Jennifer Egan, who I agree is probably the finest literary novelist working today. This point is really crucial for most all writing — I think it’s very important for writing to engage with a wider audience rather than to self-consciously aim to please a small coterie of critics and acquaintances. (via perpetua)

This is such a great point. I just finished Stone Arabia, which is GREAT btw, but I had similar thoughts — “OK, this pushes my buttons just so, but would I recommend it to anyone not already invested in the sort of New Yorker aesthetic at play here?  No wonder my mom, who reads way more books than I do, mocked herself and said she stays away from National Book Award stuff because it’s over her head!”)

Except the part about being pretentious (it’s true, she’s not), I couldn’t disagree more. Goon Squad is lousier with gimmicks and show-offy devices than any work of recent fiction I can think of. And behind the smoke and mirrors there’s very little story, as I’ve previously said in a much wordier way. (However, I like The Keep, which doesn’t seem to try so damn hard, and would recommend it to anyone.)

Goon Squad seems to divide people on issues of taste more than questions about Egan’s ability. I happen to prefer stuff like subtlety and understatement in fiction and rarely respond to dazzle and acrobatics. And I can’t stand certain subjects—psychologically damaged young women trying to make their way in a glamorous field (music, publishing, etc), for one. Other people enjoy those things, which is fine. But it strikes me as silly to posit Egan as some kind of populist hero. And you totally undermine your argument by claiming Michael Chabon and Joshua Ferris as stuffy academicians!

The only short stories in the New Yorker I ever read are the ones with Alice Munro’s name on them, and I totally agree that writing workshops have had a stultifying effect on fiction. But Goon Squad’s no more readable than your typical Iowa grad’s novel. And maybe it’s just me, but Egan’s book—in its subjects, in its mores—seems slightly dated. Reading it, I couldn’t shake that 80s feeling.

Text tagged as: books jennifer_egan reblog - Reblog from desnoise
  1. threedamsproject reblogged this from towerofsleep
  2. apcalvin reblogged this from desnoise
  3. davebloom reblogged this from desnoise and added:
    === Good points about Egan here (as far as I can tell; I’ve only read Goon Squad, which I loved), but who labels Michael...
  4. anythingcouldhappen reblogged this from desnoise and added:
    Except the part about being pretentious (it’s true, she’s not), I couldn’t disagree more. Goon Squad is lousier with...
  5. mayeeware reblogged this from desnoise
  6. lewilliamnorth reblogged this from desnoise
  7. desnoise reblogged this from perpetua
  8. bradyocallahan reblogged this from perpetua and added:
    A Visit from the Goon Squad was wonderful. Read it.
  9. sciencevsromance said: Are we just pretending that the ending of the Keep didn’t happen?
  10. lamerveilleuse reblogged this from towerofsleep
  11. towerofsleep reblogged this from perpetua
  12. dirtysmellyhair reblogged this from perpetua
  13. hyenabutter said: oh man. don’t dog Chabon. That guy’s great.
  14. perpetua posted this
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