Book Review: Adjustment Team by Philip K. Dick
Book Review: Adjustment Team by Philip K. Dick  
Podcast: Now Playing - The Movie Review Podcast
Published On: Fri Mar 04 2011
Description: Books & Nachos is now part of Now Playing Podcast. Before our book reviews were branded as Now Playing Podcast Book Reviews, they were released under a separate show called Books & Nachos. That podcast focused on book discussions, most of which tied directly into films we were covering on Now Playing. We’ve now merged those episodes into the main Now Playing Podcast feed for easier access and a complete archive. But these older episodes still have the original Books & Nachos intro and credits on those older recordings.  This week, Stuart examines “Adjustment Team,” the 1954 short story by Philip K. Dick that later inspired the film The Adjustment Bureau starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. Dick’s original tale is a tighter, more overtly metaphysical story about a man who glimpses the machinery behind reality and discovers that unseen bureaucrats quietly "adjust" events to keep the universe on schedule. With less romance and more existential dread than the film version, this original story explores fate, free will, and whether humanity is simply following a script written by forces it can’t perceive. Stuart breaks down how Dick’s concept differs from its cinematic reworking and whether the lean short story delivers a sharper philosophical punch than the big-screen love story.