California

The present-day events of the novel take place in a coastal city in California. The university where N works is modeled after Stanford University, which is located in Stanford, California, 35 miles south of San Francisco. N frequently describes watching the fog roll in over the ocean from his window at home, which often imbues the atmosphere with an ominous tone. During the dinner where they first meet, N and the guest lecturer exchange comments about the nearby redwood forest. There are multiple redwood nature preserves near the Stanford campus.

The university

N works at a university in California that the author has modeled after Stanford University. His father was previously the president of the university, and he secured the job for N after N was expelled from medical school in Ottawa. There are several clues that establish the school was inspired by Stanford, most notably in Chapter 4 when...