Where It All Goes Down
Detroit, Michigan
Small establishes setting first and foremost in Stitches. Two all-black pages with white letters begin the book. The first says, "I was six," and the second says, "Detroit." A full-page drawing of the industrial Detroit landscape follows, followed by a slow, cinematic zoom-in to David's neighborhood, then street, then house, then living room. The stark gray-scale imagery reflects the gray of the city, which was an automobile-manufacturing hub at the time. Detroit isn't pretty, which makes it a perfect setting for the ugliness of David's childhood.