Pandemonium (Daryl Gregory)

I love how Gregory captures a sense of insanity framed by mundane reality. In the two books of his I read (this and Afterparty) the main character experiences what, in the real world, we would call hallucinations and delusions, but within their own warped world they make a slantwise kind of sense. Here, the narrator, Del, was one of thousands who have been at some point possessed by what people call demons: recognizable personalities who take over someone and cause them to act out the demon's archetypal story. At age 5, Del was possessed by one they call the Hellion, a force that chooses young tow-headed boys and sends them swinging from rafters and throwing spitballs, and has been dealing with the aftermath of that possession ever since. He winds up working with others to try to learn what the demons actually are and to rid himself, and the world, of their presence. It is a fascinating world peopled with intriguing characters, and the ending is poignant and difficult and real.