I almost put Adjustment Day down multiple times. Pretty much every time that Palahniuk mentioned Fight Club as a meta reference. The central revolutionary thesis is fine and probably plays well to a certain crowd who want to burn Trump down or split away from the 1/2 of the country they don’t agree with.
But I thought the idea that a country needs to cull itself of excess testosterone (i.e. males) to keep the country moving to be a much more interesting tack than the whole “adjustment day”.
I also wasn’t really super keen on any of the characters. I am fine with no central lead or an anti-hero but there was no character that I could really follow all the way through the through-line, as it were. Especially through all the spasms of violence that occur.
So, I can’t recommend this one but I can recommend some beers that would pair with it, if you are intrigued by the book or a Palahniuk completist.
Ninkasi Brewing – Day of the Red
Eugene gets name checked in as one of the centers of revolution so go with this horror themed beer from Ninkasi.
New Realm Brewing – Hoplandia
Part of the book is set in Atlanta, and considering that and the name of New Realm, I had to pick this bitter beer.
Closer to home, the also aptly named Liberation Brewing in Bixby Knolls has an Autonomy Amber that would be a good choice as well.
