This is a view of Broadway, in Oakland, California from NYPL's Digital Gallery. Although it's not Telegraph Avenue where Oakland and Berkeley intersect, I think it still contributes to envisioning the setting of the novel. How do you envision the area where Telegraph Avenue takes place? Do you think that this picture fits with that idea? That time frame?

In the novel, Gibson Goode builds a mega record store in direct competition with Brokeland Records, a portrayal that many found unrealistic. Do you think this is a plausible real estate deal that might have happened in 2004? Was it consistent with Goode's motivation?

Here are some more questions to get the discussion started, and please remember to join us in March for Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner.