The City

The novel's primary setting is an unnamed urban center, prosperous and peaceful, at least on the surface. While the part of the world in which the city is found is also unnamed, there is a distinct sense of capitalist, media-centric and/or first world-ness about both the city and its region/country, as well as about the socio-political-economic cultures of both. In short, it all feels very Anglo-Saxon and very Western Hemisphere, perhaps most like America (meaning the city might be someplace like New York) but also like Canada or Britain. It must be noted, however, that rather than evoking a literal recreation of a specific place, the city is intended to be perceived as more of a metaphor for a particularly mindless, hedonistic, self-righteous and self-protective way of living, thinking, believing and behaving.

Books

The existence and reading of books is at the center of...