I find it very satisfying to be right. That’s why I was HUGELY excited when last year I called the Edgars… way more satisfying than happening to guess which of the 10 nominees will ultimately win the Oscar for Best Picture.
That’s kind of how I felt when I learned that Jennifer Egan had won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her amazing book, A Visit from the Goon Squad. I got the book for Christmas and, with one thing and another, didn’t read it for a week or two. My January blog post title says it all: Egan Envy. My review boiled down to: Wow! Why can’t I be that good?
Here’s a video of Jennifer talking about her book. (You may need to put up with a 30-second commercial first. Sorry.)
What I found especially interesting about Jennifer’s comments is that she had no idea, when she was writing the book, that it would have such a reach. She mentions that she wrote each section separately, and it is true that the structure is that of intertwined short stories. That really resonated with me. The story arc in a short story is very self-contained, and it is interesting to think that you can write something expansive by exploring within something contained – think Venn diagram!
So, very sincere congratulations to Jennifer Egan. I’m eager for her next book.
Literary Lunchbox 
Must be an enjoyable read A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. loved the way you wrote it. I find your review very genuine and orignal, this book is going in by “to read” list.