Borgel (Unabridged‪)‬

Pinkwater fans and armchair time travelers alike will ponder the mysteries of Space, Time, and the Other and laugh out loud—repeatedly—as they listen to this wildly imaginative novel.

Melvin Spellbound's humdrum life suddenly becomes extraordinary when Borgel, claiming to be a distant relative, shows up on the Spellbound family doorstep with thirty-two lumpy black valises and moves into the spare room. The rest of the Spellbounds rarely see him after that, with the exception of Melvin, who visits Borgel’s room to listen to Beethoven and drink Norwegian vole moss tea.

One night Borgel wakes Melvin with an invitation to come to his room, and an hour later Borgel, Melvin, and the family dog, Fafner, hit the highway in Borgel’s hot-wired 1937 Dorbzeldge sedan. This turns out to be no ordinary road trip, as the Dorbzeldge takes them hurtling through time (which is like a map of New Jersey) and space (which is like an elliptical bagel with poppy seeds) at 372,000 miles a second.

Once Melvin gets used to seeing stars through his hand, he discovers that being a time tourist is both exciting and educational: There’s the fact that dogs can talk when they’re taken into the far reaches of time and space. The adventure really begins at Gypsy Bill’s Resort and Spa and Junk Yard and Duck Farm, where our heroes meet up with a mysterious stranger named Freddie who persuades them to join him in his quest for the Great Popsicle!

"Pinkwater at his most cosmic." —Kirkus Reviews