Jennifer Egan

**SPOILERS**

i liked this novel a lot, so it's a real fucking pity that i didn't like the ending at all. for a story that went to such great and exuberant lengths to defy the social conventions of the age it's set in at every turn, we sure do end with our protagonist forgoing an abortion to become a mother, her spinster aunt suddenly becoming a nurturning nanny, and the mobster with a heart of gold getting hoisted on his own petard. there was a weird current of idealism throughout this book show more that i thought was going to end up as a fascinating deconstruction of patriotism and heroism, but just kind of fizzled out, and then got bolstered by the way the narrative played into conservative moralism even as it continued to question it. anna seems to vacillate between relief and dread as she heads for her new life, in a nifty parallel of her father's own escape - but it fell flat for me given that her abject sadness at leaving her beloved life behind could all have been avoided if she'd just got the abortion. i know it's meant to be a sort of pyrrhic victory. i get what the story is doing. but i don't like it.

all that off my chest, i loved the writing. egan has a way with prose that can knock you off your feet, an eye for detail, and a deft hand with third person omniscient (my least favourite perspective) that switches nimbly between voices. most exceptional, i thought, was dexter's last scene, seguing between his present and his recollection of eddie's past before sliding effortlessly into eddie's present. even as i was frustrated with the storybook neatness to dexter's end, that blew me away. i think another remarkable thing about (the majority of) this book is that despite the plot being sometimes a little ~obvious, the characters are all quite complex, even the ones in the background. i felt compelled by every character, on every level, which is honestly impressive and the main reason i'm still giving this four stars despite my frustration in the end.

what really drew me in at first (i think i'm working backwards here) is the way this novel seems so far removed from the online conversation about "strong female characters." in many ways, manhattan beach is an unapologetic female power fantasy, and it was nice to luxuriate in that without having to suffer debate over whether anna's a mary sue or she's too strong and should show more weakness or she's too weak etc etc etc. it's just straight up, no complications, here is a girl who gets to do it all. the obstacles in her way are realistic but she gets through them and that's just... nice. show less

Back in 2006, Jennifer Egan published this little (255 pages in my paperback copy) novel about two cousins reunited in an eastern European country where one is renovating an old castle. Except this is Jennifer Egan -- the brain from whence came [b:A Visit from the Goon Squad|7331435|A Visit from the Goon Squad|Jennifer Egan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356844046l/7331435._SX50_.jpg|8975330] and [b:The Candy House|58437521|The Candy House|Jennifer show more Egan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1642351487l/58437521._SY75_.jpg|86707532] -- so nothing can actually be that simple.

Danny, the cousin whose life in New York has fallen apart (although we never get the whole story), leaving him with few options but to accept a one-way ticket to his cousin's project, is a hot mess. Howie, aforementioned cousin, used to be a hot mess, especially after Danny and another cousin basically tried to kill him when they were all teens. Now he has his life together: a wife, a kid, money to invest in a strange project centering around the old castle. But how can you not wonder, as the reader, if Howie is plotting revenge now that he has the upper hand? Within the first 50 pages, I was sucked in to the story, couldn't wait to see how this would all end.

That's when the story suddenly shifts to an inmate taking a writing class. Is the story of Danny and Howie just a figment of his imagination, created to impress his writing teacher? From there, the novel shifts back and forth between these two seemingly different worlds, but you know they'll eventually connect.

This was a delightful little mindfuck of a novel. Sorting through the clues to find the connections and the "truth" (if that actually exists) spiced up my December reading. This earlier novel isn't as polished as Ms. Egan's more recent works, but that's part of its charm. It was recommended by one of my library co-workers, which I second if you like your fiction unpredictable. show less

“Knowing everything is too much like knowing nothing; without a story, it’s all just information.”

Series of interconnected short stories, set in the present and near future, about the impact of technology on our lives. It is a follow-up to A Visit from the Goon Squad and contains several of the same characters. Entrepreneur Bix Bouton has developed the next level in social media, the Own Your Unconscious App, where memories can be collectively captured and shared. A segment of society show more rebels against this technology, attempting to live off the grid. They are called “eluders.” Main themes are privacy rights, memory, and authenticity (or lack thereof).

I have read two of her other works, and I tend to enjoy Jennifer Egan’s elegant writing style. This novel is creative and has an unusual structure. It is told in changing perspectives and nonlinear timeline. The plot (I use the term loosely) is difficult to describe, since it loops backward and forward, with common concepts appearing in different sections. There are a large number of characters. A minor character mentioned in the previous chapter becomes a key player in the next.

It is a concept novel – a challenge to our increasing reliance on technology for entertainment and daily living, substituting the artificial for the real. It definitely spurs questions. If such software existed, would we really want to share our memories with the “collective?” Would the benefits of retrieving pieces of our partially forgotten experiences be worth the loss of privacy?

There is a pleasing complexity to this novel. I particularly enjoyed the more straight-forward stories, even though they are told in fragments and must be mentally assembled by the reader. There are a few sections toward the end that abruptly change in style to a series of commands (similar to tweets), and another comprised of emails and text messages. These segments are a bit too scattered and disjointed for my taste. I think this book will appeal to those who have read and enjoyed A Visit to the Goon Squad, which I recommend reading first. show less

Manhattan Beach is a tale of two stories. On one side, there is Anna’s work life and struggles to find her role in the wartime economy. On the other side, there is Anna’s private life with her missing father and handicapped sister. Even though the two stories barely coincide, except for one key scene towards the end that sets the finale into motion, both are interesting from the glimpses into wartime New York they provide.

Manhattan Beach is by no means an action-filled story. In fact, show more the biggest complaint about the novel from others is that it moves slowly. To me, it is a character-driven story, and the slow pacing works as Ms. Egan affords readers the opportunity to intimately understand Anna, her motivations, her passions, and her schedule. At the same time, it allows readers to learn about wartime New York and what women experienced as they went to work in roles previously held by men. We see how the gangsters transitioned from the Prohibition era to the wartime, how things changed for everyone in any role, and watch as society evolves.

This historical aspect of the story is by far its strongest one. Particularly interesting was Anna’s struggles to become a deep-sea diver. History books and wartime anecdotes would have you believe that industries, particularly those involving manual labor, welcomed women with open arms to fill the voids left by the men going overseas to fight. Ms. Egan shows that this is not true. The hatred Anna faces as well as the scorn, doubt, and general prejudice she experiences just to be able to put on the diving suit is disturbing. Yet, on some levels, the misogyny surrounding her decision to dive is not surprising in the least. While it is nice to think that Rosie the Riveter, and the women who answered the call of that advertisement, faced no issues, we just have to look to today’s society to realize the likelihood of that having actually happened is nil. Anna’s story in that regard is just one more in a long line of gender bias and prejudice women continue to experience today.

The second part of Anna’s story, that of her personal life, also provides historical context that educates and intrigues. As with the idealized impression of women in blue-collar manual labor roles, I never thought that the idea of a single woman living alone in the 1940s was scandalous behavior. After all, there have been women-only boarding houses in existence for decades by this point in history. In my mind, the same would seem to hold true with going out without a chaperone. However, Anna’s experiences burst this idyllic bubble of mine just as it did with Rosie the Riveter. Yet, while society may still see women as fragile and in need of protection, Anna’s story shows how the war slowly changes this attitude. Ms. Egan, through Anna, provides a clearer picture of just what it meant to be an unmarried woman during World War II.

Even though the story revolves around Anna, Ms. Egan uses multiple viewpoints to round out her story. These character point-of-views fill in the gaps that Anna will never learn and help answer mysteries to which Anna will never obtain the answers. While Ms. Egan could have told the story strictly through Anna’s eyes, the multiple perspectives afford the reader the opportunity to garner the whole truth, particularly around Anna’s missing father, while allowing Anna to remain ignorant of the truth, something that feels essential to her character. In essence, they leave readers with no unanswered questions and better insight to what was occurring behind Anna’s back while remaining true to all of the characters and the story.

While I enjoyed reading Manhattan Beach, finding it intriguing and educational, I can see why others are struggling to finish it. It is not a complicated plot, and there is very little action. Without the historical context, it would indeed be boring; if the history doesn’t interest you, then it is boring. Nothing is much of a surprise, and while we get to know Anna very well, she does not develop much as a character. For me, the history and the mystery of the father’s disappearance, no matter how predictable, were enough to overshadow the predictability and to pique my interest. Whether it will be enough for you is up to your individual tastes in stories. show less