The Dice Man

For other uses, see Diceman (disambiguation).
The Dice Man

First edition cover
Author Luke Rhinehart
Country United States
Language English
Publisher William Morrow
Publication date
1971
Media type Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages 500 pp. (paperback edition)
ISBN 0-00-716121-2 (2003 paperback edition)
OCLC 59367330
Followed by The Search for the Dice Man

The Dice Man is a novel published in 1971 by George Cockcroft under the pen name Luke Rhinehart and tells the story of a psychiatrist who begins making life decisions based on the casting of dice. Cockcroft wrote the book based on his own experiences of using dice to make decisions while studying psychology.[1] The novel is noted for its subversion, anti-psychiatry sentiments and for reflecting moods of the early 1970s. Due to its subversive nature and chapters concerned with controversial issues such as rape, murder and sexual experimentation, it was banned in several countries.[2] Upon its initial publication, the cover bore the confident subheader, "Few novels can change your life. This one will" and quickly became a modern cult classic.[3][4] The book went through a number of republishings - in the United States it acquired the even more confident subheader "This book will change your life", in spite of its being a highly edited version of the original. It was initially less successful than in the United Kingdom and Scandinavia.

The themes of the book are continued in two other novels, The Search for the Dice Man and Adventures of Wim and a companion title, The Book of the Die.

Plot summary

The book tells the story of a psychiatrist named Luke Rhinehart who, feeling bored and unfulfilled in life, starts making decisions based on the roll of a dice. Along the way, there is sex, rape, murder, "dice parties", breakouts by psychiatric patients, and various corporate and governmental machines being put into a spin. There is also a description of the cult that starts to develop around the man, and the psychological research he initiates, such as the "Fuck without Fear for Fun and Profit" program.

Publishing history

References

  1. Adams, Tim (27 August 2000). "Dicing with Life". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  2. "Luke Rhinehart - Author". h2g2.
  3. Trott, Barry; Fann, Kelly (2011). "Tapping Into The Appeal Of Cult Fiction". Reference & User Services Quarterly. 51 (1): 15–18. doi:10.5860/rusq.51n1.15.
  4. Dickson, E. Jane (4 November 2000). "Striptease at the roll of the dice". The Times.
  5. Neiss, James (December 1991). "Talk Talk". Record Collector. No. 148. Diamond Publishing Group Ltd. pp. 18–23.
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