“Baby Teeth” by  Zoje Stage: Why Seven-Year-Old Hanna Had Never Spoken

“For fuck’s sake, Hanna. Why don’t you ever listen [or speak] to me?…Because I’m not Hanna,” the girl whispered. (1, p. 38).

“It was a little disappointing that Mommy didn’t want to know about her special friend. Poo-poo to her; Hanna would try again later (1, p. 39).

Comment: In multiple personality disorder, alternate personalities usually don’t respond to questions unless they are addressed by name.

1. Zoje Stage. Baby Teeth. New York, St. Martin’s Griffin, 2018/9. 

“The Perfect Daughter” by D. J. Palmer: The Title Character, who has Explicit Multiple Personality Disorder, is the Chief Suspect in a Murder

Author’s Acknowledgment: “Dissociative identity disorder [a.k.a. multiple personality disorder), which features prominently in this novel, is a very complex and multifaceted condition that is often incorrectly dramatized in books, TV, and the movies. I did a substantial amount of research on the disorder and prioritized portraying the character with DID as true to life as possible (1, p. 436).

1. D. J. Palmer. The Perfect Daughter. New York, St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2023.

“The New Husband” by Brian O’Rourke: TWINS (identical or evil, and PARTS as INADVERTENT metaphors for multiple personality (a.k.a. dissociative identity disorder)

TWINS: “We looked alike…When we were kids, Christopher used to pretend to be me, Brent says” (1, pp. 148-149.)

Comment: Since alternate personalities in multiple personality share the same body, they look alike when they come “out” and take control of behavior, like identical twins; so “twins” may be used as a metaphor for multiple personality. And since some alternate personalities may be “persecutors” (2. p. 108), an “evil twin” may also be a metaphor for multiple personality.

PARTS: “Am I really going through with this? Part of me thinks I should wake up at my regular time tomorrow and head into the office” (1. p .40).

Comment: In the early stage of treatment for multiple personality, a sensitive therapist may use “parts” as a euphemism for alternate personalties (2, p. 92), since persons with multiple personality who have not yet been diagnosed tend to think of the thoughts and feelings of their alternate personalities, not as identified with their “I,” but as associated with one of their “parts.”

INADVERTENT: Why is “multiple personality” never explicitly mentioned in this novel? Probably because the novelist did not intend to raise the issue, which may reflect his own “multiple personality trait,” a theme of this blog.

1. Brian R. O’Rourke. The New Husband. Inkubator Books, 2023.

2. Frank W. Putnam, MD. Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder. New York, The Guilford Press, 1989.

“I Am WE, My Life with Multiple Personalities” a memoir by Christine Pattillo and the Gang

Christine Pattillo’s memoir, published by her in 2014, is a deep dive into a psychology that most people do not have, but which, according to this blog, many fiction writers do have, in a milder, creative form, which I call “multiple personality trait.”

 “Chasing The BOOGEYMAN” by Richard Chizmar: Author's Note

 “…Now, as many writers will tell you, some stories are born prematurely; you might have the skeleton of a decent idea and perhaps even a main character in mind, but all the rest…is missing. Of course, many other stories are birthed plump and healthy; in these cases, all the major plot points are in place, the complete roster of characters are present and ring true in your heart, and all that’s left to do is to connect the dots…Still others…are born fully formed, as if merely buried in a mound of sand that needs only to be brushed away in order to discover the entirety of the story—crackling with life and energy and wonder—underneath. Chasing the Boogeyman was like that for me—just waiting there beneath the surface. Fully formed, brimming with mystery, and chock-full of surprises” (1, p. 319).

Comment: Richard Chizmar says he doesn’t remember creating “the entirety of the story,” except for brushing away a “mound of sand” covering it.

So who, then, wrote this novel? It was the author’s creative alternate personalities, for whose writing process he has a memory gap (a cardinal symptom of his mentally-well version of multiple personality): "multiple personality trait," the theme of this blog.

1. Richard Chizmar. Chasing the Boogeyman. New York, Gallery Books, 2021/2022.

“Hooked” by Emily McIntire: James (a.k.a. “Hook”) is described as "a dichotomy" and a “Jekyll and Hyde personality,” but multiple personality, per se, is never mentioned

“He’s a dichotomy, threatening my life in one breath and being a gentleman in the next. It’s terrifying how he can do both so flawlessly, as if they’re integral parts of him…It tosses everything I’ve ever been taught about good and evil out the window until it skews and blurs in my brain" (1, p. 214).

“Ugh! I explode, anger scorching through my insides, exhausted from his hot and cold act. “You are so fucking insane!…his Jekyll and Hyde personality…” (1, pp. 231-232).

Comment: This novel is a contemporary literary example of why people think multiple personality is rare: Even a bestselling author who built a whole novel around it, doesn’t explicitly mention “multiple personality.”

1.Emily McIntire. Hooked. Bloom Books, Sourcebooks, 2021/2022.