Based on rave reviews by friends who loved this book, I expected to like this book more than I did. I’m feeling generous today so I’m rating it 4 stars.

Best themes:
The elasticity of sibling bonds (“Safari” and “Great Rock and Roll Pauses”)
Fragility (“Good-bye, My Love” and “Found Objects”)

My favorite story:
Ted Hollander searching for his niece Sasha in Naples (“Good-bye, My Love”)

Funniest moments:
Characters who prefer to text (“T”) each other rather than speak even as they sit across the table from one another (“Pure Language”)

Most Annoying:
The article, written by Jules, that describes how he ended up assaulting the actress he is sent to interview (“Forty Minute Lunch”) – enough with footnotes in modern lit; if you can’t do ‘em like [a:David Foster Wallace|4339|David Foster Wallace|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1301424629p2/4339.jpg], then just don’t, ok?

Most Overhyped:
The PowerPoint chapter (“Great Rock and Roll Pauses”) – yes, it’s creative. However, no need to fall all over yourselves because of it. (Maybe I’ll write a story in Excel: Enter characters in column A and relationships in column B; sort by locale (column C), use a formula in column D to calculate a happiness quotient based on the characters’ ages (to be entered in a lookup table), and then review all possible outcomes in a pivot table that sums the number of times a relationship is repeated compared to the median value of the times the character says "Awesome!".)

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Browsing other GR reviews I saw a couple of comparisons to [b:Cloud Atlas|49628|Cloud Atlas|David Mitchell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170360941s/49628.jpg|1871423], another book of interlocking short stories told in different styles and voices across different time periods. While I enjoyed Goon Squad, Cloud Atlas was much more commanding.