Jennifer Egan’s 2010 meta-novel A Visit from the Goon Squad—which comes out in paperback this May—made the top-ten lists at Time, Slate, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Publishers Weekly (among quite a few other places). One of the best chapters was patterned after a PowerPoint presentation: a format that lends itself quite naturally to a splendid new feature on Egan’s website.
“Great Rock and Roll Pauses” picks up where the novel left off, and includes sound files from the Four Tops’ “Bernadette,” David Bowie’s ”Young Americans,” Steve Miller’s “Fly Like an Eagle,” and “Roxanne,” by the Police (among quite a few other songs). You don’t need to read Egan’s book to enjoy the slide show: Trying to guess the pause that comes next is plenty of fun in and of itself. But, of course, enjoying the slide show will make you wonder about the book.
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