Bad Monkeys: A Novel

Matt Ruff

Oct 2009 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

“Bad Monkeys has wit and imagination by the bucketload. . . . Buy it, read it, memorize then destroy it. There are eyes everywhere.”

—Chris Moore, bestselling author of A Dirty Job and Lamb

Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder. She tells police that she is a member of a secret organization devoted to fighting evil; her division is called the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons—“Bad Monkeys” for short. This confession earns Jane a trip to the jail’s psychiatric wing, where a doctor attempts to determine whether she is lying, crazy, or playing a different game altogether.

Clever and gripping, full of unexpected twists and turns, teasing existential musings, and captivating prose, Bad Monkeys unfolds at lightning speed, taking readers to another realm of imagination.

Ratings and reviews

Confusion for confusions sake. Both sides of the conflict run on "whatever the author says"-magic, so the book just turns into a long series of stuff happening without any chance for suspense or coherence.

Great book and a real page-turner, though I resented some Deus Ex Machina moments scattered here and there. Anyway, great book

I enjoyed this quirky, amusing book about good, evil, reality and fiction. I especially liked Jane's interactions with her instructors.

About the author

Matt Ruff is the author of Lovecraft Country and its sequel, The Destroyer of Worlds, as well as 88 Names, Bad Monkeys, The Mirage, Set This House in Order, Fool on the Hill, and Sewer, Gas & Electric: The Public Works Trilogy. He lives in Seattle, Washington.