This is an important book for anyone who loves bibliographies, glossaries, or Jeff VanderMeers. (I would say it was an important book for footnotes, but I think Bill Bryson has cornered the market on that one.) 
 This is a collection of related short stories that form one cohesive...ish... picture of the city of Ambergris, a dark and moist place where fungus looms large. While the whole picture is intriguing, in the later stories one can really feel VanderMeer's eldritch style (and irreverent humor) shine through, as well as pick apart the tendrils of things that would later be found throughout the entire Southern Reach trilogy (admission of bias: my new favorite thing in the whole world). An excellent selection of false history an unanswered questions. 
 I especially love the detail that went into the non-book parts of the book, like the erratic page numbers, the notes on the typefaces (I mean, I can't say I've really read a funny note on typeface before, but this is definitely the funniest) and the absolute fiction constructed in the forward and about the author - OR IS IT. A wonderful combination of humor and horror. 
 Not a book to read if you want to feel happy or comfortable in your own skin, or if you don't like knowing whether to laugh or cringe, so, definitely a must-read.