Magic for Beginners (2005)

There is something about handbags that Kelly Link just can't get enough of — especially those made from animals (dogs, armadillos, cats) and those that can hold, say, an entire make-believe village of people who live under a hill. These enchanted sacks lurk in nearly all corners of this dazzling new collection of fantastical tales, alongside a convenience-store clerk sporting ''experimental C.I.A. pajamas'' and teenagers obsessing over a television show that they may or may not star in, and that may or may not even exist. Elliptical and dreamlike, Link's stories fold in on themselves with playful, self-referential glee in Magic for Beginners. Even at its creepiest, Link's world is one to savor.