 When Jimmy shyly announces at the family dinner table that his piano teacher plans to include him in an upcoming recital, David belittles and beats him, ordering him to give up his "sissy" piano and work at the garage, earn money and be a real man.Jimmy finds temporary escape from his family dysfunction by visiting a traveling carnival that stops in Wamego each summer.He forms a platonic friendship with the premiere sideshow attraction, Sandra, an aging but still glamorous lounge singer.