T HIS must be one of the most intriguing books you could ever come across. You won't be able to decide if it's charmingly wacky or just plain weird, but you'll definitely want to read it.

At first glance McSweeney's 23, which features ten short stories from ten different writers, is beautifully illustrated, but on closer inspection the intricate pattern and shapes on the cover reveal all manner of creatures, cavorting in the corners. There are more surprises. Take off the cover and you'll find that it folds out into a poster-sized sheet with more of the same illustrations and some very short stories by Dave Eggers on the reverse.

As for the stories themselves, they're like snapshots into other people's lives.

Some of them are totally different from ours, like About As Fast As This Car Will Go by Shawn Vestal, in which a father teaches his son to become a career criminal, to rob and murder. Others are more easily identified with, like the laugh-outloud My Son, There Exists Another World Alongside Our Own by Chris Bachelder, in which another father takes his paternal duties a little too seriously in writing his pubescent son a letter full of sexual advice.

Whichever stories you enjoy most - the funny, the deadly serious or the outright wacky - there is certain to be something for everyone.