"One City" contains three stories by three famous authors, but I've never read anything by any of them before.
The first was my least favourite, in it Alexander McCall Smith describes the situation of an outsider, a foreigner in a strange country, where all the little things are different. I felt sympathy for the main character, but didn't really identify with him.
The second story reminded me of Stephen King, which is not what I was expecting. I thought Ian Rankin would be more gritty and down to earth, but in this story he weaves touches of magic and fantasy into the experiences of a homeless man, which made me think of children's TV dramas from 25-30 years ago ( in a good way! ).
My favourite was the third story. Irvine Welsh has a great ear for dialogue, and conveying the ways people might react to a bizarre situation. This story is funny, sad, and powerful, and it stayed in my head for days afterwards.