Universal Remote

“Universal Remote is an entertaining spoof of our losing battle with new technologies.”

View on Amazon

From the Back Cover of Universal Remote

Russell Pines is caught in a phenomenal conceit. For an entire year he will become an icon of the postmodern technological world – he will become Technoman – adopting a synthetic lifestyle and immersing himself in the technology he writes about in his weekly newspaper column. Pines is hired as the PR man for Prometheus Laboratories’ brilliant creation – the Universal Remote – a device that will re-revolutionize the world. But in this state-of-the-art land of technology, life becomes anything but convenient: the nuclear family is in a state of meltdown; conspiracy theories tear at the fabric of rationality; Paddy Dangus brings his anti-technology terrorism into the mainstream of American convention; and Satan is having an emotional breakdown. Michael Hartnett takes readers on a fast-paced adventure across a landscape littered with unforgettable human castaways, whose topology is continually being reprogrammed.

“Universal Remote is an entertaining spoof of our losing battle with new technologies.”

– David Bouchier, WSHU radio in New York

“Universal Remote is literate, funny, occasionally strange, but completely accessible. Hartnett’s vision of Technoman is what all of us are becoming.”

– Alfred Doblin, The Village Herald

“Universal Remote is a satiric-comic romp through our suburban dreamscape. The novel is a very shrewd sendup of the way we live now, and a disturbing but plausible foreshadowing of the way we’re headed.”

– John Krafft, editor of Pynchon Notes

“Hartnett’s vision is dark but uproariously illuminating. He has created an enduring and wildly funny novel.”

– Martin Tucker, editor of Confrontation