The narrator introduces songs as the foundation of worlds, the protagonist Fat Charlie Nancy, and Fat Charlie’s father Anansi, or Mr. Nancy. Fat Charlie received his nickname from his father, who has a knack for naming things; once, he nicknamed a neighbor’s prize-winning dog “Goofy,” and the dog was never the same since. As Fat Charlie tries to tell his fiancée Rosie why he doesn’t want to invite his father to his wedding, he reflects on the embarrassing indignities bestowed by his father over the years. One of the worst was when Mr. Nancy convinced Fat Charlie that President’s Day meant dressing up as a famous president, so Fat Charlie showed up at school dressed as President Taft and was humiliated. He also pretended to see mermaids in the sea, but Fat Charlie never saw one.

Rosie convinces Fat Charlie to track down his father, so Fat Charlie reaches out to an old family friend, Mrs. Higgler. He remembers the last time he saw his father, which was when his mother was dying in the hospital. After waiting far too long, Mr. Nancy finally showed up with a full jazz band and gave his mother a sending-off party.