Ordinary People. Poster of the 1980 movie and cover of the 1976 book
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Ordinary People
Judith Guest, 1976
movie vs book
Robert Redford, 1980

The Jarretts are an upper-middle-class family in suburban Chicago trying to return to normal life after the accidental death of their older teenage son, Buck, and the attempted suicide of their younger and surviving son, Conrad. Conrad, however, still struggles to communicate and re-establish a normal relationship with his parents and schoolmates, including Stillman, with whom he gets into a fistfight.


The Final Days. Poster of the 1989 movie and cover of the 1976 book
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The Final Days
Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, 1976
movie vs book
Richard Pearce, 1989

The chronicle of Richard Nixon’s final days while serving as the President of the United States is chronicled in this account. Nixon, a leader marked by paranoia and a tendency to abuse power, is also portrayed as an all too human figure – a bewildered, pitiable person who cannot fully grasp how everything he has worked for in his life can slip away in less than a year.


The Pelican Brief. Poster of the 1993 movie and cover of the 1992 book
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The Pelican Brief
John Grisham, 1992
movie vs book
Alan J. Pakula, 1993

After two Supreme Court justices, Jensen and Rosenberg, are killed by an assassin named Khamel, Tulane University law student Darby Shaw writes a legal brief detailing her theory on why they were killed. An informant calling himself Garcia contacts Washington Herald reporter Gray Grantham with information about the assassinations, but suddenly disappears.


Outland. Poster of the 1981 movie and cover of the book novelization
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Outland
Alan Dean Foster, 1981
movie vs book   [NOVELIZATION]
Peter Hyams, 1981

Federal Marshal William O’Niel is assigned to a tour of duty at the titanium ore mining outpost Con-Am 27, operated by the company Continental Amalgamated on the Jovian moon of Io. Shifts are long but significant bonuses are paid. Tarlow, a miner, suffers an attack of stimulant psychosis resulting in death by explosive decompression.