Spokane, Washington

The city of Spokane, Washington is the explicit setting of “Statistical Abstract...” and “The Wolf and the Wild.” Spokane is a relatively small city, where social issues such as poverty are fairly relevant. Jess Walter has lived in Spokane his whole life. Thus, although many of the stories in this collection have no explicit setting, their settings appear to be similar to Spokane.

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city in Oregon, and it is the setting for “Helpless Little Things.” Like many cities, Portland has a mixture of wealthy and impoverished citizens, as shown in “Helpless Little Things.” However, the story could have been set in nearly and city, as very few aspects of the story are related to specific aspects of Portland.

Las Vegas, Nevada

“The New Frontier” takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada. The protagonist of the story is only visiting Las Vegas at the...