Two highlights of A Visit from the Goon Squad

Two pretty good stories/chapters nearing the end of Jennifer Egan's novel/collection "A Visit from the Goon Squad," particularly liked the one about a college student returning to NYU after wrist-slashing suicide attempt, a story with a lot of pathos, the "link" to the rest of the stories is Sasha, the music-biz assistant we met in first chapter, kleptomaniac, unhappy in all her relationships, now we see her in college, at that time in life already struggling with her illness, entered college late (21?) after a few years in Europe, a time, she confesses, during which she stole and sold herself in order to get money to get by - and despite all the grimness of these characters, story is kind of sweet. The guy who tried to kill himself is regretful that he never had a relationship with Sasha, she's now involved with another guy, Drew, and the suicide guy is odd man out - though it's also a bit of a three-way friendship, a la Jules and Jim. Most effectively, Egan gives us the sense of how the kid (he's a 19-year-old football jock, odd for NYU I think) feels that everyone is speaking too carefully to him, afraid of what he might do. End of story very powerful as the two guys swim in the East River - unlikely even on "E," but well conveyed, scary. Next story goes back in Sasha's life to her time in Europe and the efforts of her uncle, a feckless art prof., to find her and bring her home - echoes here of Roth's American Pastoral, though not as grim. Hard to believe how indifferent the uncle is to her, but a pretty good portrayal of a troubled young American girl running away from her life. Egan's greatest strength may be her ability to write about troubled young adults.