Rating: 
Summary: Matt Ruff's Best Novel To Date
Review: "Set This House In Order" is Matt Ruff's finest work of fiction to date, brilliantly adding to a splendid body of work that includes such classics as his literary debut "Fool On The Hill" and the Ayn Rand-influenced cyberpunk novel "Sewer, Gas, Electric: The Public Works Trilogy". He offers a fascinating twist on the coming-of-age tale, exploring the lives of the multiple personalities inhabiting the bodies of Andrew Gage and Penny Driver. Like Jonathan Lethem in "Motherless Brooklyn", Ruff writes eloquently and with much compassion about two characters afflicted with a severe personality disorder. None of his splendid prose lapses into cliche or melodramatic writing. It's one of the few books I have read lately that I found almost impossible to put down, compelled to read vast portions of the novel at one clip. Without a doubt, Matt Ruff has become the most distinguished writer ever to have graduated from New York City's prestigious Stuyvesant High School. He is also among my generation's most talented writers, comparable in quality to the likes of Jonathan Lethem, Jeffrey Eugenides and Michael Chabon.
Rating:
Summary: Matt Ruff's Best Novel To Date
Review: "Set This House In Order" is Matt Ruff's finest work of fiction to date, brilliantly adding to a splendid body of work that includes such classics as his literary debut "Fool On The Hill" and the Ayn Rand-influenced cyberpunk novel "Sewer, Gas, Electric: The Public Works Trilogy". He offers a fascinating twist on the coming-of-age tale, exploring the lives of the multiple personalities inhabiting the bodies of Andrew Gage and Penny Driver. Like Jonathan Lethem in "Motherless Brooklyn", Ruff writes eloquently and with much compassion about two characters afflicted with a severe personality disorder. None of his splendid prose lapses into cliche or melodramatic writing. It's one of the few books I have read lately that I found almost impossible to put down, compelled to read vast portions of the novel at one clip. Without a doubt, Matt Ruff has become the most distinguished writer ever to have graduated from New York City's prestigious Stuyvesant High School. He is also among my generation's most talented writers, comparable in quality to the likes of Jonathan Lethem, Jeffrey Eugenides and Michael Chabon.
Rating:
Summary: Don't miss this novel!
Review: "Set This House in Order" is truly one of the best-crafted novels I have read- a deftly, cleverly written story with captivating characters. It has an intriguing premise that is carried through to its full potential: Andrew Gage, a narrator and the main protagonist, is one personality belonging to a person with multiple personality disorder. Andrew has been chosen to be the responsible, regulating public persona for his body. Through Andrew, the different personalities inhabiting the body have input, but order is maintained, transforming what is usually considered a psychological disorder into a somewhat bizarre but rich and interesting way of life. When Andrew realizes that his co-worker Penny suffers from multiple personality disorder, he attempts to help her come to grips with her situation and find a better way of handling the many souls vying for dominance in her life. Amazingly, even though there are many characters residing in two bodies, each personality is so distinctive that the story is clear and free of confusion. The plot has a great mix of romance, adventure, and mystery, but it's the characters that make this a truly magnificent novel. The empathy of Ruff's writing imbues each personality with a unique and human soul. Though the idea of multiple personalities might sound difficult or disturbing, the story itself is full of gentleness and compassion. Like "Middlesex" or "The Curious Incident of the Dog at Nighttime," "Set This House is Order" is an amazingly well-written and empathetic novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Imaginative, like his other books - but dark and edgy
Review:
Like "The Fool on the Hill" and "Sewer, Gas & Electric", this story is very imaginative, has a lot of twists and turns in the plot, and keeps you turning the pages. Missing from this book however is the wackiness that permiated those other stories. Instead, the narrative in this story is edgy and a bit dark - largely due to the subject matter - two people with multiple personalities trying to come to grips with the childhood abuse that created their psychological problems. That said, the story is interesting and Ruff's portrayal of the various personalities inside each character's head is done in a very creative, fascinating - and non-confusing style. I highly recommend the book, but given the excellent way in that Ruff established seperate storylines that take place both in and outside the characters' heads I would have liked to have seen Ruff explore the more comic possibilities of the situations rather than focus on the dark backdrop of childhood abuse, which rendered the story darkly creative instead of comically creative - definitely worth reading, however!
Rating:
Summary: Imaginative, like his other books - but dark and edgy
Review:
Like "The Fool on the Hill" and "Sewer, Gas & Electric", this story is very imaginative, has a lot of twists and turns in the plot, and keeps you turning the pages. Missing from this book however is the wackiness that permiated those other stories. Instead, the narrative in this story is edgy and a bit dark - largely due to the subject matter - two people with multiple personalities trying to come to grips with the childhood abuse that created their psychological problems. That said, the story is interesting and Ruff's portrayal of the various personalities inside each character's head is done in a very creative, fascinating - and non-confusing style. I highly recommend the book, but given the excellent way in that Ruff established seperate storylines that take place both in and outside the characters' heads I would have liked to have seen Ruff explore the more comic possibilities of the situations rather than focus on the dark backdrop of childhood abuse, which rendered the story darkly creative instead of comically creative - definitely worth reading, however!
Rating:
Summary: Funny, Poignant, Disturbing
Review: A remarkable novel , with a small cast of bodies, but a huge cast of souls corresponding to multiple personalities. The author makes these souls come alive vividly- a tour de force
which is totally absorbing..
About two thirds of the way through the novel I realized that to some extent, "normal" people are multiple-as we put on a brave face, act childish, etc.
This is a wise and humane book.
Rating:
Summary: Ruff has done it again!
Review: After his first two books - quirky and sharply written, deftly straddling the imaginary fence between fantasy and literary - Ruff made an interesting decision in choosing his subject matter for his third novel. Instead of taking the "easy" route and returning to a fantasy setting, he steps into the real world, choosing a difficult premise, and delivers his best story yet. While his first two books showed off his ability to handle large casts of distinctive characters and their overlapping stories, he flips the script here by focusing on two characters, both of whom house large and distinctive casts IN THEIR HEADS. Describing the plot doesn't do the book justice as, like any worthwhile journey, half the pleasure is in getting there, and this book is a rare pleasure, indeed. In the end, Andy Gage and Penny Driver will be two people whose lives stick with you long after you reluctantly put the book down. Matt Ruff has done it again!
Rating:
Summary: A Unique Journey of "Self-Discovery"
Review: Andrew is the personality in charge of "driving" the soul-ridden body of Andy Gage. Born from the ashes of Andy Gage's mind, the society of multiple personalities live in a stable arrangement together thanks to a helpful therapist. Andrew is a recently born personality trying to give the body a fairly normal life, starting with a new job at a software company. But Andrew's stability is threatened when his impulsive boss, Julie, hires Penny, another victim of multiple personality disorder. Julie wants Andrew to help Penny tame the chaos in her head. Penny doesn't understand her condition, but some of her other personalities do. Andrew is reluctant to get involved, but Penny's group of protective personas make a plea for help. When his own house of souls collapses under the strain of several shocks, Andrew and Penny end up on a road-trip to confront the past.
This is one of the best fiction books I've read this year. Ruff's handling of the multiple personalities is both inventive and sensitive. He is straightforward in dealing with the abuse that led to Andrew and Penny's fractured state - it's clearly important, but not sensationalized. In spite of the serious subject matter, Ruff manages to incorporate a good measure of humor into the story. Andrew's journey gives a whole new meaning to "finding yourself." Ruff's excellent characterizations make it easy to root for Andrew, Penny, and their collective internal societies.
I like that Ruff avoids the trap of a cliched, sappy ending, instead making it clear that there are no easy solutions. Ruff's plot was engrossing in all its twists and turns, and only one late section seemed to jump a bit off the tracks. This is a compelling book that will entertain you even as it makes you think about how we all interact with the world.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining lightweight fantasy
Review: centered on the fascinating, very rare and controversial condition of mulitiple indentity disorder. This condition raises questions which go to very nature of consciousness. However, the author here is more concerned with weaving a satisfying, fantasy style storyline around the basic concept, than exploring these questions in any depth.
Rating:
Summary: incredible book!
Review: I am only halfway through Set This House in Order, but I am so impressed and riveted by it that I had to write. This book is unique, a huge departure from Matt Ruff's previous novels Fool On the Hill and Sewer, Gas, & Electric. I loved those two books and certainly considered them to be written by a very gifted author. But Set This House in Order is blowing me away. To be honest, I wasn't sure I would like it. The subject matter was something of a turn-off for me. But as I mentioned, I loved his two previous books, and I feel it is imperative to support talented authors by buying their books in hardcover, so I bit the bullet. Good thing I did - this is one of the best books I have ever read. It reads like a mystery, a psychological thriller, a comedy and a horror novel all at once. I will admit that the descriptions of Penny's experiences with her mother caused me to sleep with the lights on last night'and since I am only halfway through, I suspect that there is more to come that won't make sleep any easier. I won't re-cap the plot, as this has been done already in the Publishers Weekly and Booklist reviews above. I can't imagine that anyone reading this book for any reason would be disappointed. It is dense, richly imagined, well-plotted, intensely interesting, surprising, satisfying. I rarely want to ask an author the dreaded question of 'where do you get your ideas?' but in this case I am so impressed that nothing would satisfy me more than to sit down with Matt Ruff for a couple of days to talk about this amazing book. I really hope that this book turns into one of those runaway sleeper hits that the bookstores can't keep stocked, a la Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Matt Ruff deserves to be famous.
|
