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• Reputation: 105 Q&A: 3 0 0 45 2 0 Classifieds: 2 0 what's this? Moderator Jay Jansheski is a moderator on Questionland Seattle Follow Following 0 Jay Jansheski

  1 0 I saw it as a collection of stories that was unapologetically about a group of upper-middle and just plain upper-class characters. I can only think of a couple of people in the book who are flat broke, but even they seem to me to be fugitives from the upper class: Scotty springs to mind, but even when he's flat broke it seems to be more a mistake than his his true lot in life, and all that was standing between himself and his status as a rock star was his own failure to see his true, prosperous self. Likewise Sasha, on the run in Italy, was only hiding out from her family who were reasonably well off, and the college students in the Chapter featuring Rob are college students, who live in a kind of alternate economic state that is a kind of combination between poverty and prosperity, which is to say that even if they're low on funds at the moment, they probably won't be for long. I don't mean to sound cynical here–nothing wrong with people who have done well for themselves in either real life or in fiction–but I couldn't see anyone who was flat-broke busted here. (No doubt just after I post I'll suddenly remember an entire section of the book titled "the trials of poverty featuring the ghost of charles dickens.") Jay Jansheski answered in Book Club- A Visit from the Goon Squad 11 months ago | Report 1 comment by Black Beetles in Amber… 0 0 Yeah, I heard it was about "rock" and "punk" and thought it might be a little crustier, but really, even the scene hangers-on were still at the class levels of the rail-riding teens/twentysomethings who always have the option of returning to a middle-class lifestyle. Black Beetles in Amber commented 11 months ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question New comments are not being accepted at this time.

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• Reputation: 166 Q&A: 6 0 0 46 0 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Expert: 5 topics Books & Writing Book Recommendations General Book Discussion Other Books & Writing Book Club- A Visit from the Goon Squad Follow Following 0

  1 0 I have to disagree, Paul, I think many (if not almost all) of the characters were middle-class: if not always in terms of cash in their pockets, certainly in terms of cultural values and social aspirations. The constant preoccupation with "selling out," shared by several characters, from Bernie to La Doll to Scotty to Alex, strikes me as a particularly middle-class concern. More to say on this topic, but they're finally boarding my plane! I'll post a related question tomorrow. Abby Bass answered in Book Club- A Visit from the Goon Squad 11 months ago | Report 1 comment by Black Beetles in Amber… 0 0 "The constant preoccupation with "selling out," shared by several characters, from Bernie to La Doll to Scotty to Alex, strikes me as a particularly middle-class concern." Yeah, and that "safe"ness bored me to tears. I suppose you could OD, or you could fail to achieve fame, but there was so little risk, so little actual struggle in the book. Black Beetles in Amber commented 11 months ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question New comments are not being accepted at this time.

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• Reputation: 1254 Q&A: 23 0 18 493 64 1 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Moderator Marty Unger is a moderator on Questionland Seattle Follow Following 5

  1 0 I can see what you're saying Paul. There's a strong statement about class with Bennie's story especially as it compares to Scotty's later story with the fish and all. That said, I don't think the novel was about class. In fact, I'm not really sure what it was about. Marty Unger answered in Book Club- A Visit from the Goon Squad 11 months ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question New comments are not being accepted at this time.

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