Significance of Santa Ana, CA

Horselover Fat's home after his release from the Orange County Mental Hospital and his divorce from Beth, Santa Ana is depicted as a dangerous place, particularly in the downtown Mexican barrio. Fat's building has a state-of-the-art security system, which makes it seem both fortress-like and jail-like. He convinces Sherri Solvig for a while to give up her wretched little apartment, also located somewhere in Santa Ana, and move in with him. Sherri's church is located nearby. She works there administering social programs that junkies try to exploit. It adds to her cynicism. The Santa Ana airport is shown in passing, as characters fly in and out. When Fat is planning his quest for the returning Messiah, he begins at the Santa Ana branch of the World-Wide Travel Bureau, where an agent informs him about the tax benefits of seeking medical attention in China. The friends see the film Valis at an unnamed walk-in theater on Tustin Ave. At several critical points in the story enjoy drinks at a Sombrero Avenue bar.