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The Book of Form and Emptiness,
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Jennifer (formerly Eccentric Muse)
the setting of the book is not specified although, as pointed out below, Ozeki is very clearly describing the Vancouver Public Library, in Library Square. However, the setting is not Canada; it is definitely the U.S., which you can tell by:
a) reference to "states" (not provinces);
b) references to healthcare costs, COBRA and lack of universal health insurance coverage;
c) the job Annabelle does and its concentration on U.S. topics, also a reference to gun violence;
d) the veiled references to the U.S. elections and the riots over police violence;
e) the U.S. book tour for Tidy Magic, the last stop of which is the U.S. northwest (again, state not specified, but definitely Pacific Northwest).
I agree with you that this confusion of setting is a deliberate authorial choice and an interesting one on Ozeki's part.
a) reference to "states" (not provinces);
b) references to healthcare costs, COBRA and lack of universal health insurance coverage;
c) the job Annabelle does and its concentration on U.S. topics, also a reference to gun violence;
d) the veiled references to the U.S. elections and the riots over police violence;
e) the U.S. book tour for Tidy Magic, the last stop of which is the U.S. northwest (again, state not specified, but definitely Pacific Northwest).
I agree with you that this confusion of setting is a deliberate authorial choice and an interesting one on Ozeki's part.
T.D. Whittle
(Update: Please refer to comments on this thread.) The book is set in Vancouver, which you have to figure out because it is not specifically stated. The library is the giveaway. That library is very distinctive and there's not another like it that I know of, especially in the Pacific northwest.
Anna Mae
The imagery from the scene where they drive up the mountain to bury Taz feels very Pacific Northwest. And the culture of the city also seems to have a West Coast vibe, but I assume it is an imagined place with elements of the US healthcare system and the Vancouver Public Library.
L.S. Gribko
The riots after the 2016 election took place in Portland, Oregon. I just assumed the author moved the Vancouver Library there and called it close enough.
willaful
Benny's school is "somewhere on the Pacific Northwest coast of the Americas."
Ed Bernard
Somewhere in the Pacific northwest is my guess (well, that's not a guess, that's clear from the book's content) -- I'm thinking maybe Eugene?
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