Aliens, Drywall, and a Unicycle

By: Kevin St. Jarre

Narrated by: Derek Urichich

Length: 5 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Tom Tibbets takes a job at a small weekly newspaper in Portage, New Hampshire, and an apartment in the old Cooper Building, where the residents form a kaleidoscope pattern of the odd, the interesting, and even the insane.

One neighbor believes that we descend from aliens, another is a pothead-philosopher, and there’s a pair of brothers who play with illegal explosives for fun. A vegan pacifist lives there, along with a couple of nomadic born-again Christians, a schizophrenic unicycle rider, and a mysterious wise man.

At first, Tom feels like he’s the only “normal” person living in the building. However, he soon believes that the very people he at first considered unstable and strange have become a lens through which he gets a new look at himself and everything else.

When something happens that leaves the tenant community feeling changed and off-balance, Tom comes to wonder if somehow his added karmic weight has thrown off the bizarre status-quo, energetic equilibrium of the place.

In the end, Aliens, Drywall, and a Unicycle is the story of personal growth from a state of delusion to examination to awareness of what is truly important in life.

©2020 Kevin St Jarre (P)2023 Kevin St Jarre

Gritty and Stimulting

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Aliens, Drywall and a Unicycle by Kevin St. Jarre. The spare story-telling style belies the deeply embedded philosophical notions and quandaries that are skillfully woven throughout the book. I found it intellectually stimulating.

The story is told through the lens and experience of Tom Tibbets, a man with a supercilious and cynical outlook on the world. By being given the assignment of writing about the people living in his apartment complex for his newspaper, his interviews become the perfect foil for opening up his, and our, minds to different perspectives. The array of characters we meet in his new building is charming: a perceptive, self destructive cutter, a Zen autodidact, a believer in aliens, a vegan down-to-earth pacifist, two terminally politically-incorrect drywall hanging brothers, a religious, selfish prepper couple, a unicycle-riding schizophrenic, and finally a reclusive, quirky writer. The title of this work fits the scenario perfectly.

Tom’s small apartment complex community appears at first to be somewhat dystopian, loaded as it is with ‘dysfunctional’ adults, and yet St. Jarre leads us into seeing how this is reality, the gritty truth of life; that sweet, harmonious families and well-adjusted Disney-character adults are not the norm. He gets us to love and appreciate the humanity of these real people, and to understand that they are as much a family as any family can be.

I absolutely loved how physically central Tom’s apartment was to the whole complex, and how central he is to the unfolding of events. This placement is exquisite. And of course, Tom’s personal growth and development is central to the storyline. I enjoyed St. Jarre’s meta-inclusion of his own book title into the narrative. I couldn’t help but appreciate the author’s wry and reflexive humor in a number of places.

The narration by Derek Urichich was brilliant and flowed beautifully. It was pleasing to listen to.

It seemed a little unusual to me that people in the complex ‘took’ to Tom so easily, since he seemed unlike the rest of the community, and a little stand-offish. It also irked me a little to HEAR the narrator repeat so many “he said,” “she saids,” since the skillful voice, grammar, accent and inflections in this audiobook made it clear who was talking.

These observations are petty, non-issues to the enjoyment of the story, though. I highly recommend this insightful and intellectually engaging book.

Recommend

This isn't a bad book, it wasn't what I was thinking when I got it to read. The narrator had the book sounding very depressing and sad. Wanted to keep reading to find out the story of the people who lived in this noisy apartment complex but also felt sad for their lives.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Lighthearted, gritty, and hilarious

Aliens, Drywall, and a Unicycle is a highly enjoyable read. Author Kevin St. Jarre paints a vivid portrait of life in a small New Hampshire town, one that leans on the grittier, real side.

I was originally drawn to this book by its title and description, which promised an off-beat study of colorful characters. St. Jarre delivered! Not only were the characters interesting, well-cast, and full of life, but they were believable in only the way those outside of Stepford know is entirely common and real on the streets of any town.

Additionally, Derek Urichich provides a lively performance as the narrator, bringing life to St Jarre’s dialogue for the dozen or so characters. My favorite moment came during the narration of the “Tupac Was The Buddha” manuscript about the Gulf War, where XXX’s performance invokes the tone of Charlie Sheen’s emotional narrations in “Platoon”.

St. Jarre’s protagonist, Tom, is put on a subtle journey through a tumultuous period in his life, and it’s easy to sympathize with the character along the way, even as you question whether you’ve ever been faced with the same midlife professional and relationship crises. The book leaves you feeling like life is truly stranger than fiction - and that St. Jarre himself may have crossed paths with some of the most interesting people in New Hampshire.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.