A poignant reminder that there are some things words simply can't describe. Maybe I'm as old-fashioned as those who still send letters by carrier pigeon, but if I'm perfectly honest, when I, at least, sit down to read a book, I want to do just that – read a book, not an extended leaflet.Īttempting to describe what a pause sounds like, Egan inserts a blank white box into her slide. Maybe it will speak to a generation more interested in skimming tweets than hundreds of pages of dense prose. Maybe this book is a rumination on the way society's headed. The prospect of analysing these details is quite probably the kind of thing that would induce a fit of delight in a Media Studies student, but leaves the rest of us feeling cold. Yet the effect of reading 76 pages of continuous slides is rather like that of listening to an orator who stresses every syllable, rather than placing a more selective emphasis on key points – eventually, the initial surprise of reading something in this format looses all meaning, and you're left looking at a brightly hued mess of words.Ĭoloured lettering jumps out at you from page after page, experimental formatting renders you unsure of the order the story comes in, you're visually attacked by an endless parade of diagrams and flow charts and tables. Sporadic glimpses of PowerPoint being incorporated into the greater narrative may have been eye opening, provoking thought in readers. In the words of one of Alison's slide slogans from school, 'A word wall is a long haul'.Įgan must be applauded for having the guts to explore such an innovative technique, but as is often the case with so-called 'gimmicks' such as this structure, less may have been more.

One can't argue that certain scenes aren't brilliantly realised – for example, one slide summarising some of Lincoln's favourite songs is a wonder of brevity, cutting out cumbersome text, removing the middle man. Yet in this section in particular, recounted largely from a teenage girl's point of view, Alison reflects on Lincoln, her autistic brother, and his fascination with the pauses in rock songs. The book as a whole explores the lives of a decrepit punk rocker and his onetime PA. So true.Īnother day has given us another wacky literary gimmick, this time in the form of a critic-wooing opus from Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad, which utilises PowerPoint slides instead of a traditional format. The mobilisation of childhood into the economy through the state of self conscious via which they record themselves.

How fabuluously fantastic to make that leap. That sounds like the most adventurous, truthful idea I've pretty much ever heard.

A visit from the goon squad kindle