St. Augustine, Florida

The novel’s prologue and opening chapters take place in St. Augustine, Florida. St. Augustine is the oldest, continuously occupied city in the United States. In the prologue, two boys find a strange creature on the shoe, and one of them posits that the creature is comprised of the bodies of the boys’ future selves. In the main narrative, B. drives to St. Augustine for a film research project. Once there, he meets Ingo Cutbirth by chance. B. watches Ingo’s film, and the elderly Ingo dies. B. attempts to bring the film back to New York City, but the film stock spontaneously combusts.

New York City

New York City is the most populous city in the United States. B. lives in New York City. When he returns to the city after the accidental destruction of Ingo’s film, B. commits himself to remembering and transcribing...