The opening section introduces the members of the Berglund family. Walter Berglund’s neighbors at Ramsey Hill in St. Paul, Minnesota read about him in the news and cannot always reconcile what they read with what they see.

Walter’s wife, Patty, is a fearless former athlete who went to college on a basketball scholarship. She never says anything bad about others—nor anything good about herself. She has a tense relationship with her neighbor, Carol Monaghan.

Patty is more devoted to her son, Joey, than to her daughter, Jessica. Joey has an independent streak and does not distinguish between children and adults. Patty believes that Joey thinks parents get the final say because they have money.

Connie Monaghan—Carol’s daughter—loves Joey. She exists solely to please him and is “like an imaginary friend who happened to be visible” (11).

After Walter’s mother suffers a pulmonary embolism, there is a rumor that Walter’s mother left her house to him, while also leaving his two brothers out of the arrangement. They let several neighbors use the house in the summer, which sits on an unnamed lake in Minnesota. Joey calls their lake “Nameless.”

Carol’s new boyfriend is a staunch Republican named Blake. Blake builds an “add-on” (19) in Carol’s backyard and a tacky great room.