I like the phrase "narrative eddies." Also, without having read the thing, I agree in advance that those character names don't work. It still sounds like an enjoyable read.

I wonder indeed if someone somewhere is going to hate it just because it's only about white people...even though that would make it a fairly realistic portrayal of Portland. I suspect the same person who would level that criticism is also the first person to call bullshit if Monica Drake decided her narrators should be an Eritrean family from Lents. Hehhh...