So I assigned Set This House in Order: A Romance of Souls by Matt Ruff to Johanna Kunin. (The first assignment is here.) This is probably the book I feel most connected to; a lot of this book takes place in the cafe under Elliott Bay Book Company’s old space in Pioneer Square, which is where I was working when I read the book. In many ways, the Seattle in Ruff’s novel feels more real than any other fictional Seattle I’ve ever read.
Which is a good thing, because while House isn’t as out-there as many of Ruff’s novels, it’s definitely got a plot that needs to be grounded in a solid world: It’s the story of a young man with multiple personality disorder who has arranged all his disparate personalities into a working system. In his brain, he has built a house, and all the personalities live there together, taking turns to be in control of the host body, time-share style.
House‘s opening scene, set over a breakfast table, is a brilliant narrative dramatis personæ, introducing each personality in brief, clear language. It establishes the main character’s harmony with himself and the world around him. From there, of course, things go very wrong. It’s one of the most underrated novels of the last ten years.