San Francisco

San Francisco provides the geographical location for the novel’s frame narrative. In 1989, during the grandfather’s final days, he lives with the narrator’s mother in her house in San Francisco. When the narrator comes to visit, the grandfather tells his life story, which provides most of the novel’s narrative.

Philadelphia

Philadelphia is the grandfather’s boyhood home. As a young boy in Philadelphia, the grandfather spends his free time exploring the cities neighborhoods and picking fights with other boys. He also attends Drexel Tech in Philadelphia and receives his engineering degree. Later on, Philadelphia provides a source of hardship after Reynard and the narrator’s father take part in a botched enterprise run by the Philadelphia Mob, resulting in legal problems for both of their families.

Germany

The grandfather’s father is an immigrant from the German region of Pressburg. During World War II...