GhostWritten is Mitchell's debut novel and winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award. Subtitled A Novel in Nine Parts, this book is a pioneer in reimagining the form of the novel. It not only contains some of the most memorable and colourful characters ever committed to writing but all of them weave in and out of each other's lives in completely unexpected ways.

The character are:

• A lawyer racing to catch a ferry whilst his suffers from a divorce and the ghost of a child in his apartment
• A spirit who hops from soul to soul across Mongolia in search of its origins
• A computer program which argues moral philosophy with a radio talk-show host (in between describing its incredible aerial views from a satellite) on the eve of World War III
• A Russian art-thief forced to tolerate the sexual advances of her curator boss
• A cult member tasked with an act of terrorism involving the Tokyo underground
• A drummer in London who's going to have a hell of a night at the roulette table
• A Chinese mountainside noodle-shop owner who suffers under the warlords, then the Kuomintang, then the Japanese and then the Reds.
• A Japanese jazz shop assistant who struggles with first love and the prospect of losing his beloved failing a crucial decision
• A quantum physicist who's trying to escape the clutches of the United States militarys

All the above, intertwining and linking. Some closely, some merely in passing. David Mitchell's GhostWritten is like a short-stories collection, only not. Most short stories involve either a single story-teller telling different stories or many authors telling their own stories. This book felt one story ripped and stretched into almost disconnected by a few authors who each tried to put a little of themselves into each chapter.

In a word, Ghostwritten feels like it's been ghost-written. By ghost-writers seeking to have their true powers unleashed.

"Lunatics are writers whose works write them". Lunacy as a literary phenomenon, eh? Now that's food for thought. Read Mitchell and have a feast.