On the topic of disregarding social norms, we have the 19-year-old self-proclaimed bad boy narrator of T.C Boyles story “Greasy Lake”. The story takes place during the summer, presumably set in the 1950s, at a location referred to as “Greasy Lake”. This lake, once clear, is now described as swampy, trash filled bayou. The narrator takes time in describing his “bad” friends, who seem to reject social conventionality as a means of pretension. The narrator tells us, “They were slick and quick and they wore mirror shades at breakfast and dinner, in the shower, in closets and caves” (3). After a few sleepless nights of antics, the friends head to Greasy Lake. The main character loses his keys here, and then gets into a fight with a man. The friends
