Adjustment Day: A Novel
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
New York Times Bestseller
"An irreverent satirical fantasy about a sudden and violent upheaval.…Think Tom Robbins channeling Jonathan Swift." —David Takami, Seattle Times
Adjustment Day is an ingenious darkly comic work in which Chuck Palahniuk does what he does best: skewer the absurdities in our society. Geriatric politicians bring the nation to the brink of a third world war to control the burgeoning population of young males, while working-class men dream of burying the elites. Adjustment Day’s arrival makes real the logical conclusion of every separatist fantasy, alternative fact, and conspiracy theory lurking in the American psyche.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The defiance of social order well-known from Palahniuk's Fight Club finds new if stunted life. As American society continues to fail the common man, the mysterious actor Talbott Reynolds appears on radio and TV promising a new system built truly by the people. Soon, copies of a blue and black book proliferate quickly underground through the U.S., speaking of an Adjustment Day that will bring power to the powerless. With the American government on the verge of reinstating the military draft, Talbott's followers rebel, killing and enslaving all journalists, politicians, and academics. New leaders arise from the rebels, creating three separatist states: Caucasia, which reverts to a medieval society; Blacktopia, which springboards into a magical and technologically advanced world; and Gaysia, a state consumed with outing heterosexuals and inseminating lesbians to keep the economy in balance. As misplaced citizens flee, others must hide in plain sight. One elder white woman blackfaces to awkwardly fit in, while a heterosexual couple passes as gay so they aren't permanently separated. The over-the-top premise is classic Palahniuk, but he stumbles in its delivery, focusing more on the farcical aspects of these societies rather than on the characters living in them, resulting in a thin story.
Customer Reviews
Hm
I don’t quite know how to feel about that.
Bit of a slog
Adjustment Day wasn’t bad but I didn’t rip through it the way I have other Palahniuk novels. It was pretty slow going and the way main characters tied together was a little weak. Kinda meh.
Terrible
This book is a total waste of time, and actually the first book I decided to stop reading. Pointless, redundant, and not nearly as clever as it hopes to be. I liked Fight Club, Choke, and Lullaby, but this was just unreadable once the novelty of the concept and slim shock value wore off.