Set This House in Order

Matt Ruff wurde 1965 in New York geboren und wuchs als Sohn eines lutheranischen Pfarrers in Queens auf. Er studierte bei Alison Lurie und schloß 1987 sein Studium an der Cornell University, Ithaca, ab. 1991 erschien die deutsche Ausgabe seines Erstlingswerks 'Fool on the Hill'.

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.

Penny leidet an Multipler Persönlichkeitsstörung. Andy, der an derselben Krankheit leidet, will ihr helfen. Er selbst hat gelernt, alle seine Persönlichkeiten in einem imaginären Haus in seinem Kopf leben zu lassen. Durch Penny gerät diese Harmonie ins Wanken, und er entdeckt eine verschlossene Tür in seinem Haus, die bisher nicht in sein Bewusstsein gedrungen war...