Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff - review

[BrianLindenmuth]

Quick Take:

Bad Monkeys displays for us not only its, at times, dark humor but the patchwork juxtapositioning of odd and imaginative ideas that is Matt Ruff’s trademark.

With a gun that kills people using natural causes, a secret organization that spies on people via the eyes on pictures called The Panopticon, axe-wielding clowns in Vegas and great chapter titles like “Nancy Drew, Reconsidered as a Bad Seed” and “Scary Clowns, Shibboleth’s, and the Desert of Ozymandias” Bad Monkeys displays for us not only its, at times, dark humor but the patchwork juxtapositioning of odd and imaginative ideas that is Matt Ruff’s trademark.

Part of the fun of Bad Monkeys is the shifting time frames of the story that jump back and forth between the present in the hospital and the past as Jane tells the story of her life. Jane proves to be a fascinating narrator that reminds us, on more then one occasion, of Verbal Kint. Her reliability as a narrator comes into question pretty early on when her interrogator obtains proof that brings into question the veracity of at least part of her tale. Since the lie is brought immediately to our attention it knocks us off balance a bit and the rest of the story, as relayed by Jane, is treated with more caution. Due to Ruff’s skills as a writer this insertion of doubt doesn’t disengage us from the story but manages to increase our engagement levels. This is due in large part to the simple fact that the story being weaved before our eyes is just so damned interesting. Read more