Set This House in Order: A Romance of Souls - Softcover

Matt Ruff

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007164238 ISBN 13: 9780007164233

Publisher: Flamingo, 2003

Synopsis

Andy Gage was born in 1965 and murdered not long after by his stepfather. . . . It was no ordinary murder. Though the torture and abuse that killed him were real, Andy Gage's death wasn't. Only his soul actually died, and when it died, it broke in pieces. Then the pieces became souls in their own right, coinheritors of Andy Gage's life. . . .

While Andy deals with the outside world, more than a hundred other souls share an imaginary house inside Andy's head, struggling to maintain an orderly coexistence: Aaron, the father figure; Adam, the mischievous teenager; Jake, the frightened little boy; Aunt Sam, the artist; Seferis, the defender; and Gideon, who wants to get rid of Andy and the others and run things on his own.

Andy's new coworker, Penny Driver, is also a multiple personality, a fact that Penny is only partially aware of. When several of Penny's other souls ask Andy for help, Andy reluctantly agrees, setting in motion a chain of events that threatens to destroy the stability of the house. Now Andy and Penny must work together to uncover a terrible secret that Andy has been keeping . . . from himself.

About this title

About the Author:

Matt Ruff is the author of The Mirage, Bad Monkeys, Set This House in Order, Fool on the Hill, and Sewer, Gas & Electric. He lives in Seattle.

From Booklist:

Ruff tells a surprisingly dense story that boils down to a journey of self-discovery. Andy Gage, created two years ago, is the public face of a multiple personality. There are hundreds of souls in his head, governed by his father as Andy lives in a house on a lakeshore. In the world outside, Andy works on ambitious, but unlikely, virtual reality projects. There, new programmer Penny Driver turns out to be a multiple personality, too, and the boss wants Andy to help her. Several of Penny's other souls ask for help, which Andy finally, reluctantly, agrees to give, thereby setting himself on a path that threatens the stability of his house. It seems Andy isn't as cured as he thought he was. There are still secrets in his hometown and in his mind, secrets that could destroy him. Because of the high quality of characterization in it and the unusual route the many souls of Andy Gage must take on his journey of self-discovery, this is an engaging piece of work. Regina Schroeder
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About this edition

• Publisher: Flamingo
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0007164238
• ISBN 13: 9780007164233
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 496