It follows two teenage friends, Dylan Ebdus and Mingus Rude, one white and one black, who discover a magic ring.

Dylan Ebdus – the son of Rachel and Abraham, an artist father and a Brooklyn native mother.

After Rachel abandons the family, he becomes more introverted, shutting himself in the attic to paint cels of his animated film, a masterpiece that will never be complete.

In order to support himself and Dylan, he turns to painting garish science fiction book covers, a field in which he eventually becomes prominent.

Barrett Rude Jr. – former lead singer of a 1960s, moderately successful soul group called The Subtle Distinctions.

The two follow different paths throughout the novel: Dylan goes on to college and eventually California, and Arthur stays in Brooklyn and assumes the role of Mingus's right-hand man, participating in drug deals and graffiti.

Over the course of the novel, he trashes Dylan's first bike, yokes him repeatedly, and holds him at gun point during a drug robbery.

However, throughout the work, slang and music are used to portray indirectly the state of mind of the protagonist, and the subjective impact of the events of his life.