Poppy Torgov, Doug's grandfather, appears as a bearded lady at the County Fair. Grandma Mugwump, Doug's grandmother, is born male. She becomes a woman by devouring female flesh. These delirious stories never add up to a plot that you can follow. The book is like a labyrinth with no exits.
Time flows backward.
Events precede their causes. The past is not recovered by this method. Rather, even the present moment turns into a story. It becomes distant and unreal, already drowned in the past. But Grandma Mugwump is that abyss, in person.