Where It All Goes Down
The Suburbs of Chicago, Circa 2010
The setting of Will Grayson, Will Grayson will probably look pretty familiar to a lot of readers. It takes place in modern times in some of the suburbs around Chicago, Illinois. Just a bunch of Midwestern kids getting up to some mischief in America's second city, right?
Pretty much. Will Grayson lives in Evanston, which is only about fifteen miles north of Chicago. That explains why Will, Jane, and Tiny go into the city to see concerts and hang out so much—it probably only takes them a little over a half an hour to get from their houses to downtown Chicago. Evanston is also the home of Northwestern University, which is where Will's doctor parents suggest he go to college/medical school. Not only will he be going into the same profession as them but he'll be close by. Talk about not leaving the nest.
will grayson, on the other hand, lives in Naperville—that's a lovely suburb about thirty-five miles west of Chicago. will's trek into the city takes a whole lot longer than the Evanston crew's, which explains why he's on the train for a while when he goes to meet Isaac (or not meet Isaac, as it turns out). It also gives us a little clue as to why he's not as familiar with the city. It's more of an effort for will to get into Chicago, so he's not as familiar with its famous landmarks and porn shops.
Speaking of Frenchy's, it's a real and actual place (no, we're not linking—that's between you and Google). Other real life landmarks mentioned in the story are the Hideout, where Neutral Milk Hotel is supposed to be playing. will and Tiny also share their first kiss under the Bean (also known as Cloud Gate) in Millennium Park. This book is quite the tour of Chicago.
You probably also noticed that it's February-ish in Chicago. That means it's cold. Like, very cold. Midwestern winters are notorious for being icy, windy, and drab. Will's kind of right when he says it's "the kind of cold where breathing through your nose gives you brain freeze" (5.134-135). Ah, Chicago winters are lovely.
But why is this novel set in Chicago? Well, John Green said that at the time he and David Levithan were writing the book, he had an office in Chicago. Right across the street from Frenchy's to be exact. So that's part of the reason.
But the setting also gives us a sense that these are just average American teenagers living average American lives. They live in the 'burbs, but they have access to a big city with a hopping arts and culture scene for them to enjoy. There's also quite a bit of tolerance in this liberal-ish area (you probably noticed that no one completely wigs out at school when will tells everyone he is gay). What's not to love?
How do you think the story would have been different if the two Will Graysons lived on opposite ends of Manhattan? Or if they made their home in San Francisco? Or even on farms in rural Ohio? Moving our characters gives them a whole different feel. Personally, we think Chicago is their kind of town.