Each tale in this book branches into multiple paths, in other words, dependent upon the choices the reader makes, and so every reader's journey through the book will be entirely unique. None of this would mean anything except that the stories are wonderful, involving Snoopy, new plays by Shakespeare, the most mediocre man in heaven, a sinister balloon animal maker and every form of invention from plangent to slapstick. Because the order keeps shifting, a funny story can seem glib when it is followed by a tragedy and the same two can seem hyperbolically wrought then sweetly redemptive taken vice versa.