Not surprisingly, Jonathan Livingston Seagull takes place at the seashore.

Jonathan, however, is always at a distance from the rest of the flock. After being declared an outcast, Jonathan follows two strange gulls up into the sky, flying higher and faster than he ever has.

He comes to a place that he thinks of as heaven; here he learns to overcome the barriers of space and time. He learns that 'The gull sees farthest who flies highest."

The novel is illustrated with photographs of the seashore and seagulls by Russell Munson that add to the atmosphere of the novel. Some of the photographs of gulls in flight were taken from an airplane and accentuate the beauty and exhilaration of flying. By setting most of the story in the air, Bach suggests a universality of locale, which allows readers to apply the story to almost any circumstance.