Matthew Theron Ruff (born September 8, 1965 in Queens, New York) is an American author of thriller, science-fiction and comic novels.
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Ruff grew up in New York City. He attended Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan; one of his teachers there was the memoirist Frank McCourt.[1] He graduated from Cornell University in 1987.
The author's first novel, Fool on the Hill, was a fantasy that drew on his experiences living in Risley Residential College at Cornell. Published shortly after Ruff graduated from the university, it gained an early cult following which continues to this day. His second book Sewer, Gas & Electric: The Public Works Trilogy was postcyberpunk; it helped him to become a fully settled writer. He became fairly well known not only in the United States, but also in Europe.
His third book Set This House in Order: A Romance of Souls, focuses on multiple personalities; while not technically science-fiction, it nonetheless contains significant speculative elements. The novel was long-listed for the 2005 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and won the 2007 James Tiptree, Jr. Award, a PNBA Book Award, and a Washington State Book Award. Ruff is also the recipient of a 2006 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship in Prose [2] His fourth novel, Bad Monkeys, received the 2008 Washington State Book Award for Fiction, a PNBA Book Award, and an Alex Award.
His fifth novel, The Mirage, will be published by HarperCollins in February 2012.[3]
Ruff currently lives with his wife, Lisa Gold, in Seattle, Washington.