Matt Ruff is one of those slow writers. His first book came out in 1988, and this one, his third, came out in 2003, though someone I didn't notice it until recently.

I've read his first two books, and was quite impressed, but this one is definitely his best work yet. The books alternates between two characters, Andrew and Penny, though the author of the work is Andrew. They both suffer from multiple personality disorder. Andrew knows of his MPD, and has it fairly under control, with a sort of order between his different personalities, which he calls souls.

Penny, however, doesn't know what her problem is, just that she loses time and has trouble organizing her life. The story revolves around Andrew trying to help Penny, and then coming to terms with unfinished business in his own life.

I really, really loved the depiction of MPD in this book. In particular, the way Andrew has gained control of his is to construct a sort of mental geography and house, inhabited by his various personalities. Use of "the body" is mostly controlled by Andrew, but he lets others as long as they behave properly.

Matt's previous work were fantasy and a sci-fi-ish satire. This novel is more of a "straight" novel, though it's almost sci-fi in it's rather wishful depiction of the company where Andrew works, which is a software company building VR hardware and software. But that's really not central to the plot.

The book is quite dark, since both Andrew's and Penny's MPD were caused by very severe child abuse. There's nothing too graphic in the book, but there was enough to make me squirm and feel disgusted. Ultimately, however, the novel's tone is pretty positive, since it's really about recovering from past trauma and moving on, not about suffering.

The writing style and story reminded me a little bit of Sean Stewarts's Perfect Circle, another book about dealing with past trauma. Both books are really about people as much as plot, and the characterization in this book is what really shines.