Anansi Boys

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

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman is one of the most magical books I've read. As Publishers Weekly puts it, readers will be entertained "by this brilliant mingling of the mundane and the fantastic."
This is one of the best books I've ever read. The relationship of Spider and Fat Charlie Nancy is annoyingly funny.

Fat Charlie Nancy is a guy who lives life in the most ordinary way, working in a company he doesn't like very much. He is also engaged to Rosie, but her mother only pretends to like him. When Fat Charlie met her one day, he took a bite from one of the fruits displayed in her house, realizing it was made of wax only when she told him. Obviously this did nothing but displease her.

When he learns of his father's oddly funny death, he attends the funeral and discovers a lot more things that aren't easy to believe. First, he finds out that his father is the human form of Anansi, and second; he has a brother named Spider who has inherited some of Anansi's abilities and who looks so much like him. The moment Spider came into his life, Fat Charlie Nancy's life is turned upside down. Spider steals his fiancee, gets him drunk, and goes to his firm just to get him fired. Being so annoyed with Spider, he turns to the use of magic to get rid of him, but he wasn't able to foresee the consequences that would go with it.

This whole novel is darkly funny, but it leaves readers feeling moved with its heartwarming ending.