John Darnielle grew up in Claremont, California, but at heart, he’s an Iowan. He pulls on the sense of community and a bit of nostalgia he observed while he was living in Colo in the 1990s in his new novel Universal Harvester.
“I think often when people write about Iowa, every four years when they send the cameras here for the caucuses, they sort of strip Iowans of their agency, as if they didn’t know what they are like,” he says. “But Iowa men know what they like, and they have approached a more spiritual way of being, to be who you are where you are when you are talking.”
During this Talk of Iowa interview, Darnielle talks with host Charity Nebbe.
