San Diego, Senior Year (pp. 126-127) Summary

Steve hears of the suicide of Kurt Cobain. Many of Steve's drug-using acquaintances are shocked and dismayed. They hold a so-called "wake" for Cobain on the beach in the evening, and more than fifty students attend. Steve also attends with his Walkman playing Nirvana, but he does not smoke marijuana. He suddenly realizes that the sort of person for whom he no longer cares to associate surround him. He walks away from the gathering, and throws his Nirvana compact disc into the ocean on his way home.

San Diego, Senior Year (pp. 126-127) Analysis

The reference to the historical suicide of Cobain places the events of this chapter in early April 1994, and grounds the fictive elements of the novel within a specific sub-culture of historical importance. This section represents a major plot turning...