The Protagonist

The protagonist—whose name is never given—is an African-American man who used to work at a large firm as a “nomenclature consultant” (22), meaning that he was paid to think of good names for products. He had an innate talent for the work and quickly gained wide renown. However, he eventually became disillusioned with the work and quit his job. In the days leading up to his quitting, he injured one of his toes. The toe became infected and had to be removed. Sometime after he quit his job, his old boss called him to say that the town of Winthrop wanted to hire the protagonist to think of a new name for the town.

Throughout the main narrative, the protagonist spends time in the town of Winthrop and tries to think of a good name for it, as the three town council members each have their...