Universal Harvester

A Novel

By: John Darnielle

Narrated by: John Darnielle

Jeremy works at the Video Hut in Nevada, Iowa. It's a small town in the center of the state - the first a in Nevada pronounced ay. This is the late 1990s, and even if the Hollywood Video in Ames poses an existential threat to Video Hut, there are still regular customers, a rush in the late afternoon. It's good enough for Jeremy: It's a job, quiet and predictable, and it gets him out of the house, where he lives with his dad and where they both try to avoid missing Mom, who died six years ago in a car wreck.

But when a local schoolteacher comes in to return her copy of Targets - an old movie, starring Boris Karloff, one Jeremy himself had ordered for the store - she has an odd complaint: "There's something on it," she says, but doesn't elaborate. Two days later a different customer returns a different tape, a new release, and says it's not defective, exactly, but altered: "There's another movie on this tape."

Jeremy doesn't want to be curious, but he brings the movies home to take a look. And indeed, in the middle of each movie, the screen blinks dark for a moment, and the movie is replaced by a few minutes of jagged, poorly lit home video. The scenes are odd and sometimes violent, dark, and deeply disquieting. There are no identifiable faces, no dialogue or explanation - the first video has just the faint sound of someone breathing - but there are some recognizable landmarks. These have been shot just outside of town.

So begins John Darnielle's haunting and masterfully unsettling Universal Harvester: the once placid Iowa fields and farmhouses now sinister and imbued with loss and instability and profound foreboding. The audiobook will take Jeremy and those around him deeper into this landscape than they have ever expected to go. They will become part of a story that unfolds years into the past and years into the future, part of an impossible search for something someone once lost that they would do anything to regain.

Engineered by Matt Douglas
Music by Buttonwood Agreement
John Darnielle - piano, guitar
Joaquin Spengemann - drums and percussion
Additional synth by John Vanderslice
Music produced by John Vanderslice at Tiny Telephone, San Francisco
Additional mixing and postproduction by Tim Franklin

©2017 John Darnielle (P)2017 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Darnielle's understated narration is a perfect match for the quiet story. His restrained delivery highlights the steady Midwestern attitude of his characters, making the story's pensive strangeness that much more unsettling." ( AudioFile)

Hypnotically beautiful

Darnielle's second novel, like Wolf in White Van, features a recent historical setting and defunct technology - film rather than gaming by mail. It shares the first book's slow, gentle horror and non-chronological storytelling. In Universal Harvester, the focus is broader and more expansive, spending more time focused on characters outside of the family tragedy that drives the story. The author's narration is hypnotically beautiful.

If you're not a fan of non-linear storytelling, this might not be the book for you. But hey, give it a shot. It's very beautiful.

Almost

It almost held together. Almost. Still, I do really like it for what it is.

Little confusing

I liked the overall message of this book, but at times was very very tough to follow. It’s a good read and not like anything else I’ve read so there’s that, but again you really have to pay attention to detail and connect things or else will be very easily confused

Another quiet masterpiece, my favorite new author

Always warm, always poignant but hopeful, always earthy but playful at the same time, Darnielle again shows he's a masterful storyteller, in a performance that transcends written word and gives a whole dimension to each phrase and pause.

I'm already thinking about listening to it again. Simply put, this is deep enough to warrant more listens.

I want him to write more novels and being able to listen to him reading it is a miracle.

Another great story by a great storyteller

Darnielle is a master storyteller, in story and in song. This was a very good book, deeply unsettling and painfully honest in its portrayal of loss and grief. Highly recommended.

I need Darnielle's prose baked into my brain

A beautiful story. I was so overcome with emotion when the final line hit that I let out a long, audible sigh. Glad I opted for audiobook; the music was a welcome addition, evocative without being distracting. I also appreciated the added insight from hearing the author narrate.

listen to it twice.

Darnielle reads with such sincerity and quiet energy, bringing his brilliant prose to life. my first time through this book left me stunned and a little confused- the story goes places I could not anticipate. just read/listened for a second time and found it much more fulfilling.

Love the Mountain Goats? You'll Like This Too

Neat book about growing up in middle America. Darnielle creates a slightly threatening tone which has a satisfying twist. Neat musical interludes that fans will enjoy. He's a good narrator too. AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY

Great story

I loved this book - it is a subtly unfolding mystery with a weird plot line that still comes together in a very satisfying ending. Great characters living bittersweet lives. I highly recommend it.

Good, but a little directionless

The kind of spooky vibes were great and interesting, but the plot is pretty wanderin