I wasn't the biggest fan of this collection of Sandman-universe short stories, which felt too early in the comic run and thin compared to The Doll's House arc. The book starts with "Calliope," in which a writer holds the titular muse captive, raping her and using her for her inspiration. I found the art by John Kelley particularly off-putting in this story, and the entire atmosphere felt very pulpy, reinforcing rather than deconstructing the misogyny of the genre. I did enjoy "A Dream of 1000 Cats," because cats. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" felt like a very unnecessary extension of the Shakespeare scene in "Men of Good Fortune" and it offered few surprises. "Facade," about the fate of Element Girl, held my attention but it was really bleak. The end of the collected issues also includes the script for "Calliope," which is cool if you're a super fan or an aspiring comic writer.