"Fat Charlie was only ever fat for a handful of years, from shortly before the age of ten, which was when his mother a…"

"Stories are like spiders, with all they long legs, and stories are like spiderwebs, which man gets himself all tangle…"

"Spider: Things came up. Fat Charlie: What kind of things? Spider: Things. They came up. That's what things do. They c…"

"“I’ll putting her down for table H,” said Rosie’s mother. “She’ll be more comfortable there.” She said it in the same…"

"So that’s how they find Anansi the next morning, when his wife and his sons come down to the pea patch by the old bre…"

"“The ties of blood,” said Spider, “are stronger than water.” “Water’s not strong,” objected Fat Charlie. “Stronger th…"

"“Grahame Coats. He wants me to pop in tomorrow.” Spider said, “He’s a bastard.” “So? You’re a bastard.” “Different ki…"

"“I tell him how he can contact his brother.” “Ahh,” said Mrs. Dunwiddy. She could disapprove with just that one sylla…"

"Like all sentient beings, Fat Charlie had a weirdness quotient. For some days the needle had been over in the red, oc…"

"It begins, as most things begin, with a song."