The novel is set in a more or less contemporary world, with very little fictionalized. Due to the style and approach of the author, different towns, cities, and even countries bare very little distinction. Paul spends most of the time he's narrating at events like parties where events are naturally confusing, or at book readings where he is terrified of answering questions. In either case, the narrator's perception of the world is heavily affected by the drugs that he takes. The narrator's world, then, is a place where time barely exists, emotions are recognized but not processed, and events pass by in a haze. Paul's acquaintances--for it is difficult to say for sure if Paul actually has any genuine friends--are all drug users, and some appear to be more heavily into drugs than he is. Paul's world is filled with well-educated people like authors and journalists and...