Books by author: Matt Ruff

I've been a fan of Matt Ruff since Sewer, Gas, & Electric, and I've read all of his novels. They are all very good, and no two are alike. This one is an interesting cross between SG&E and Set This House In Order. It has fantasy elements like the former, but it also has a psychological bent like the latter.

Bad Monkeys is riotously fun ride, with twist after twist after twist. You are never quite sure whether you should be rooting for the protagonist, and it's to Ruff's credit that you do so all the way to the end. The final revelations may not be as satisfying as one might like, but the journey is still well worthwhile.

Matt Ruff continues to evolve as a writer. Each of his three novels is completely unlike the others, and each is interesting in its own way. Although Sewer, Gas and Electric is the most fun, I would argue that Set This House In Order is the most mature.

In House, Ruff creates three fully flesh-and-blood characters, Andrew Gage, Penny Driver, and Julie Sivik, whose lives are complicated tremendously because Andrew and Penny both suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder. The point of view is divided primarily between the "core" personalities of Andrew and Penny, but each character has a half dozen "souls", with decidedly different personalities, so the interactions get to be quite rich.

On his website, Ruff explains that his portrayal of Multiple Personality Disorder is intended to be believable and self-consistent, but not necessary based in reality (MPD is not very well understood). I will vouch for the believability and consistency of the work, and go further to say that it's wholly involving and fascinating.

Happily, the strengths of the novel go beyond characterization. The plot arc is carefully constructed, with threads weaving in from the beginning and converging at the end, without ever being overly predictable. The end feels slightly rushed, and the epilogue is tacked on, but these are very minor quibbles.

This novel is a lot of fun, due in large part due to Ruff's considerable powers of imagination. It reads a little bit like Vonnegut, but the prose is more conventional and the fictional world more thoroughly developed. Ruff nods several times to Pynchon, and Pynchon supplies a nice cover blurb, but I disagree with the reviewer who said that fans of Pynchon and David Foster Wallace would enjoy Ruff's novel. Pynchon and Wallace write considerably more complex (and interesting) prose. I think Ruff is more of a cross between Vonnegut and Neal Stephenson. In the final analysis, any writer who beats up Ayn Rand the way Ruff does in this novel (that is, thoroughly and intelligently), earns good marks. I enjoyed SG&E much more than Fool on the Hill, and I hope Ruff's next novel isn't quite so long in the making.