The story is narrated by the young Melvin Spellbound who joins his eccentric Uncle Borgel and pet dog Fafner on an intergalactic adventure involving time travel and multiple alternate realities.

[1] Travelling along the Interstate Highway connecting the various realities, Borgel is separated from the others by a mischievous teleportation (called a 'bilbok'), and Melvin and Fafner stranded at a roadside root beer stand.

Pursuing that search, they receive directions from a computer made in the image of the Popsicle, to the anthropomorphic gorilla 'Glugo', who conveys them to an island on the River Styx.

The New York state exam changed the characters to a pineapple and a rabbit and then asked students a series of ambiguous multiple-choice questions based on the story.

However it is still in print as a part of 4 Fantastic Novels (ISBN 978-0689834882), a compilation of four popular Daniel Pinkwater books: Borgel; Yobgorgle: Mystery Monster of Lake Ontario; The Worms of Kukumlima; and The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror.