Geographical Settings

Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut

• Setting: Dresden, Germany; various locations in the U.S. (including Indianapolis) 

“Petrified Man” – Eudora Welty

Setting: Small Southern town / beauty salon (Mississippi)

“Sonny’s Blues” – James Baldwin

Setting: Harlem, New York City

“The Magic Barrel” – Bernard Malamud

Setting: Brooklyn, New York

“The Swimmer” – John Cheever

Setting: Suburban Connecticut / Long Island

“Recitatif” – Toni Morrison

Setting: Northeastern U.S. (orphanage and later New York)

“How to Tell a True War Story” – Tim O’Brien

Setting: Vietnam War zones; U.S. Army bases

“Cathedral” – Raymond Carver

Setting: Suburban U.S. (Pacific Northwest implied)

“How to Tame a Wild Tongue” – Gloria Anzaldúa

Setting: Texas-Mexico border

“This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” – Sherman Alexie

Setting: Spokane Reservation, Washington; Phoenix, Arizona