The novel is set in one location - Dennis' apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Warren leaves the apartment once to have sex with Jessica at the Plaza hotel, and Dennis leaves twice, once to do drugs with his girlfriend and Stuey, though the location is not given. He also goes out to meet a friend to pawn Warren's collectables. The era is 1982, a time of commercial and monetary pervasion under Reaganomics. Both boys come from wealthy backgrounds but have the bitterness of a discontented youth. They could "have it all" but choose to live in a chaotic, uncertain world.