This is Books and Nachos, a podcast for those of us who find excitement in the pages of a good book.

Fiction and nonfiction, graphic novels, and more.

We are here to help you find something great to read.

Hello and welcome to books and nachos, the Vincanza Media podcast about all things in print.

I'm Stuart in L.A., and you've reached our sixth installment in the Philip K. Dick book podcast series. That's corresponding with our now playing Philip K. Dick movie podcast series. Every work that Hollywood

is adapted, I'm going to read and review for you here at Books and Nachos. And that brings us to

paycheck, which is also the source material for the Ben Affleck

Umah Thurman John Wu movie being reviewed over at now playing. Paycheck is one of our earliest works being

covered. It was written in 1952 and published the next year. It's only about 36 pages. It definitely has the earmarks of a brilliant

writer in their early phases. You get trace elements of all the major Philip K. Dick themes,

one's mind and the motives being a mystery to oneself, the oppressive governments trying to nab you for unknown reasons, general

paranoia stuff, all that stuff we've seen in lots of Philip K. Dick works now. It's all here,

but it's not quite as detailed as we've seen in some of the later or better stories. It's a good

chase, and I like the hook. The story begins with an electrical

engineer named Jennings, waking up in New York City, and it's been two years since he got on an

elevator after accepting an offer from the Retherick Construction Company to work for them on a top

secret project. Now, the way that Rether ensures discretion and, more to the point, protects

its secrets from being leaked out into the world, not only to protect itself from other

companies, but more specifically from a government that is desperate to know what it's doing,

they can erase your memory,

and that's exactly what they have done to Jennings.

The two years that he served with them under contract have been totally wiped,

...