Bolton, North Carolina

Bolton is the small town in North Carolina where the first person narrator grew up. Throughout the novel, he alludes to the town without mentioning its name. He does not think his reader will have ever heard of it. He sees the town as a sort of wasteland where nothing is produced and nothing good occurs. In the latter days of his book tour, his agent insists that the narrator return to Bolton. The boy who was recently killed by police, who is also The Kid, grew up in Bolton, too. Sharon thinks if the narrator makes an appearance there, he can not only contribute to the conversation about police violence, but win attention for his book. The trip effectively plunges the narrator into memory, and ushers him towards confrontation with his past trauma.

San Francisco

The first person narrator travels to San Francisco, California at...