Sasha finds herself by the end of the novel, and settles down with her family, turning her addiction to stealing in a more healthy direction through her found-object art. Benny, after losing his position at Sow’s Ear records, turns back to his pure love of music, reconnects with his old friend Scotty, and goes on to promote a concert that goes down in history. Two of the novel’s main characters, Sasha and Benny, find their way out of the depths of their devastation and rebuild their lives. These images of ruin, as reflected through the consciousness of the characters, mirror the ruin they have experienced in their own lives.ĭespite the ruin many of these characters experience in their lives, the novel counterbalances the destruction with redemption. In “Safari,” the killing of the lion reflects humans inflicting ruin on the environment. In the story “Goodbye, My Love,” Ted visits the ruins of Pompeii and notes the way in which the city of Naples is degrading. The same is true in other locations as well. These characters inhabit a post-9/11 NYC, where the towers have fallen, the rivers are polluted, and in later stories, the city exists in a heightened surveillance state. New York City is an environment that reflects this theme in a particularly poignant way. The idea of ruin and redemption is also reflected alongside the characters in the spaces that they inhabit. Sasha’s story shows her slipping deeper into ruin as the result of her stealing, her isolation from family and friends, and her lack of self-love Jocelyn becomes addicted to drugs and spends most of her adult life in and out of rehab and Benny loses his record label and is seen as a failure by those still in the industry. Throughout the novel, each of the major characters finds him- or herself at a low point. This theme fits nicely alongside the novel’s other themes, as the characters find themselves crushed by time, by their self-centered and isolating ways of living, and by shifts in American culture.

The theme of ruin and redemption is present throughout Egan’s novel.

Egan a visit from the goon squad