Luck: A Personal Account of Fortune, Chance and Risk in Thirteen Investigations

by David Flusfeder

Overview

A fascinating, enchanting and personal look at the meaning of luck, and the way in which it has shaped our shared history and continues to inflect our day to day lives.

What does it mean to be lucky? How might we mitigate the effects of bad luck and maximise those of good? Is there really such a thing as ‘luck’ at all?

To answer these questions, David Flusfeder sets out on a quest that will take him across the world and through history. Travelling from Siberia to Versailles, from his father’s life in war-time Poland to Nietzsche on the slopes of Vesuvius, Flusfeder investigates some victors of luck and those who were defeated by it. In following him, we find ourselves confronting who we are and how we might choose to live.

‘Thrilling, intelligent and wilfully unique … I loved it’ James Runcie, author of The Great Passion

‘Ruminative … page-turning’ TLS

‘Fascinating … An eminently enjoyable and engrossing page-turner’ The Jewish Chronicle

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780008245207
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/31/2022
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishers
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

David Flusfeder has published seven novels, including The Gift and, most recently, John the Pupil. His opera, Army of Lovers, written in collaboration with the composer Mark Springer, received its UK premiere in November 2019. He has been a television critic for The Times and a poker columnist for the Sunday Telegraph.

David Flusfeder is the author of six novels: Man Kills Woman (1993), Like Plastic (1996), which won the Encore Award, Morocco (2001), The Gift (2003), The Pagan House (2007) and A Film by Spencer Ludwig (2010).

Editorial Reviews

‘Luck is a wonderful intermingling of the historic, philosophical and literary, with tales of the author and his engaging, complicated, extraordinary father. A joy’ Philippe Sands, author of The Last Colony

‘An extraordinary collection of insights into luck, skilfully combining personal stories and historical studies into a partly random structure. It has a glorious unpredictability, producing a stimulating feeling of uncertainty about what the next gem will turn out to be’ David Spiegelhalter, author of The Art of Statistics

‘Ruminative … page-turning’ TLS

‘In Luck, [Flusfeder] bypasses the scientific harsh truth about randomness and probability and instead has written a book about the human side of luck … Eccentric, insightful meditations’ New Scientist

‘Thrilling, intelligent and wilfully unique, with the bonus ball of being unexpectedly moving, David Flusfeder’s thirteen investigations are the result of a lifetime of original thinking. I loved it’ James Runcie, author of The Great Passion

‘Fascinating … An eminently enjoyable and engrossing page-turner’ The Jewish Chronicle

‘Flusfeder stands up for superstition’ Telegraph

‘This deep, particular and witty examination of the nature of luck and its role in human existence is an absolute joy, from random start to mysterious finish. A most unusual book’ Louisa Young, author of Twelve Months and a Day

From the Publisher