El Paso, Texas

This is the book's primary setting. Close to the Mexican border, it has a large Hispanic population, the ethnic community to which both Aristotle and Dante belong. Exploring the nature and aspects of Mexican identity is one of the book's secondary themes.

1987

The novel is set in 1987: pre-internet, pre-cell phones, and most importantly for the narrative, pre-gay marriage. This last is particularly significant, as one of the novel's most important narrative elements involves questions of how Dante and Ari believe the revelation of their same-sex orientation could / would be received. Without going into a great deal of detail, the late 1980's was a significant period for gay people in America: the gay rights movement was underway, but was just beginning to be undermined by the emergence of AIDS. This means that Dante and Ari are coming out (i.e. admitting their homosexuality) at a time of...