A Visit from the Goon Squad: Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

Scotty Hausman sits in the park, watching women jog past him. Some of them remind him of his ex-wife. Scotty reads an issue of SPIN magazine, and sees an article about Bennie Salazar. The two have fallen out of touch. After this a week passes, during which Scotty tries not to think about Bennie, but he suddenly can’t get his childhood friend off his mind. He writes a letter and then goes to Bennie’s office building on Park Avenue and fifty-Second Street. Scotty stands outside and looks up at it, wondering what floor the office is on. He drops the letter into the mailbox.

Five days later, a letter arrives in Scotty’s dented mailbox. It is from Bennie, and it says he still thinks of the days when they played in a band together. He asks if Scotty still plays the slide guitar. Scotty is working as a janitor and enjoys fishing in the East River. He notes that there is only a little bit of difference between being a janitor and working in a tall building on Park Avenue—maybe no difference at all.

The next day, Scotty goes fishing in the polluted East River. He catches an enormous striped bass, and brings it home under his arm. At home he puts on khaki pants and a jacket that he obsessively dry-cleans, and goes to visit Bennie. Scotty notes that the woman who works at the dry cleaners gets frustrated with him because he keeps bringing the jacket in even though it is still clean. At Bennie’s office, Scotty gets through security easily, and credits it to Bennie’s good luck rubbing off on him. He notes that his luck is not generally so bad, more neutral than anything else, but occasionally it edges toward bad. He wonders if his visiting might actually be lucky for Bennie, or if he might take all of Bennie’s luck away from him. If this is the case, Scotty wonders if he might keep Bennie’s good luck forever.

The décor in Bennie’s office impresses Scotty. He puts his fish on the reception desk, and asks the receptionist (Sasha) to see Bennie. She calls Bennie, who tells her that he is in a meeting, but Scotty says he will wait. He sits in a very comfortable leather chair and feels like he could stay there forever, abandoning his East Sixth Street apartment. Scotty notes that he doesn’t leave his apartment much—he doesn’t need to in the “information age.” Each night he orders copious amounts of Hunan string beans and drinks Jägermeister while watching television.

Scotty ponders his theory about experience. He believes that since humans are information-processing machines, translating X’s and O’s into experience, he could technically take the information gathered on television and apply his artistry to shape that information into experience. Scotty once tested this theory by going to a gala fundraiser for heart disease. He stood outside of the building, and realized that the stone wall standing between him and those inside was made of atoms and molecules. Suddenly, he felt pain. He told himself that there was no such thing as “inside and outside,” that it all comes down to X’s and O’s that can be acquired in different ways, but he still felt like he was excluded, and this idea was painful.

A little while later, Scotty returns to Sasha’s desk and puts the fish, which is wrapped in newspaper, on it. He tells her that if Bennie doesn’t hurry up the fish will begin to stink. Eventually, Bennie comes out. Scotty observes Bennie’s body, noticing that he looks fit and wears expensive clothes that seem to glow. Bennie puts his arm about Scotty’s shoulder and leads him to his office.

Scotty finds Bennie’s office awesome. The entire city seems laid out beyond his office window. He notes that the city looks like an easy thing to have from this perspective, even for a person like himself. Scotty puts the fish on Bennie’s desk. Bennie thanks him, but says the fish will go to waste in his office. Scotty tells him to take it home and eat it. Bennie tells Scotty to talk to him, suspecting Scotty has a demo tape he wants him to hear. Scotty realizes that he and Bennie are no longer friends, and never will be. Scotty senses that Bennie wants to get rid of him. He knew this would happen, and that was the very reason he came to see him.

Scotty is offended that Bennie thinks he came for a handout. Scotty says he wants to know what happened between A and B—meaning how did they go from being in a band as kids and chasing the same girl, to where they are now. Scotty brings up Alice, the girl they both chased as teenagers, and feels it was the correct move. Scotty ended up marrying her, which he views as a victory over Bennie, even though she divorced him. Bennie tells Scotty he worked hard for what he has. A strange pause ensues, during which Scotty grapples with the past and the loss of his friend. He imagines tearing Bennie’s head off.

Scotty goes to the window and closes his eyes. He can sense Bennie’s fear. Bennie asks Scotty if he is still playing music, and if he is married. Scotty tells him he divorced from Alice, but Bennie says he meant remarried. Bennie apologizes, and then tells Scotty that he is married with a three-month-old son. Scotty realizes that his theory of X’s and O’s does not apply in this situation, and he doesn’t have what Bennie has. He allows himself to think about Alice for a moment, and sees her standing in the sun, not angry or afraid, which is how he made her feel.

Scotty looks out the window and thinks that if he had this view he would have the energy and inspiration to conquer the world, but the people who need this view don’t have it. He wishes Bennie health and happiness, and smiles widely, revealing his broken teeth. Bennie looks shocked, and this makes Scotty feel strong, as if everything in the room belonged to him. Before he leaves, Bennie gives him a business card. He tells Scotty not to be a stranger, and to send him some of his music. Outside, Scotty realizes that he left his fish inside Bennie’s office, and laughs out loud. He hopes Bennie opens the newspaper and sees the fish, because it is shiny and beautiful.

The next day, Scotty goes fishing with two of his friends, Sammy and Dave. As the sun rises, he feels renewed, and feels the urge to jump into the river and swim. Scotty’s friends watch women jog along the river, and joke that one of the woman might be Scotty’s next wife, but Scotty doesn’t look. Later, he spots a couple he often sees who are addicted to heroin. He notices they look haggard and sexy, the way young people can before they get older and just look haggard. Scotty stops them and asks if they are musicians. The woman says her boyfriend is an awesome musician. Scotty says he believes them. He gives them Bennie’s card, telling them Bennie is his friend and they should call. They thank him and leave.

Scotty walks home, noting the beauty of the spring in New York City. He looks forward to getting home and bringing his jacket to the dry cleaner. He hopes the young woman there will challenge him. He looks forward to telling her he has been somewhere while wearing it. He wants her to make it new again.