Bits and Pieces: A novel as literary mosaic - A Visit from the Goon Squad

Finished part A (side A?) of Jennifer Egan's "A Visit from the Goon Squad"; although the book (novel?) is a challenge because of the plethora of characters, the shift in POV and protagonist from story to story, and the jumps back and forward in time from story to story and even within stories, without clear narrative or editorial signposts (e.g., a date at the top of each story/chapter?), the work does come together more and more as you go through it - it's a mosaic made of sharply cut pieces of glass that at first look like mere shards (a least-favorite word - so overused as a metaphor - but here I mean it literally) but gradually begin to look like a complete picture. Of what? By end of part A it's evident that it's mostly about Bennie, a very successful record producer, whom we see from his high-school days in SF as a member of a punk band through his time at the top of the industry in NY (would producers have offices in downtown office towers even then?) to the present when he's less sure of himself, aging, impotent, marriage broken up. Around Bennie are his mentor, Lou, whom we also see in his prowess in Safari and on his deathbed in a later story; Sasha, the sexy assistant with a kleptomania problem, possibly Scottie, a bandmate from youth now pretty much on the skids in lower Manhattan. We definitely need to learn more about at least one of these peripheral characters to make the whole story cohere, but we are gradually learning more about Bennie. It's a very unusual way to tell a story - I think she could have been more straightforward and direct with the narration but if she can bring it all off by the end it will be quite an accomplishment.