Setting

Published in 2008, the short story “Gideon” by ZZ Packer is probably set in the early 1990s in the US, as indicated by the political references to “the Middle East and Palestinians” (p. 154, ll. 8-9) and “neo-Reaganites” (p. 153, l. 3)—an allusion to Ronald Regan, who was the US president until 1989— as well as to NAFTA (p. 153, l. 28), a trade agreement which was signed in 1992 between the US and Canada.

Physical setting

The physical setting is not particularly detailed. Some of the action takes place in the Pita Delicious restaurant: “Almost everything there was awful, but the falafels weren't half bad.” (p. 154, ll. 4-5).

Most of the action takes place in the apartment where Gideon lives: “I walked out of that room, out of that house he rented with its really nice wood everywhere.” (p. 155, ll. 10-11)

The summer heat, the crickets, and the bed are also mentioned as elements of the...