Harper Collins 50th anniversary edition (fair use)

(13) LUKE RHINEHART –

THE DICE MAN (1971)

“Anybody can be anybody.”

A novel by George Cockcroft under the pen name – or perhaps persona as the novel’s protagonist – Luke Rhinehart, a psychiatrist who gives himself up to literally living his life by the roll of a die, somewhat like Batman villain Two-Face with the flip of a coin but even more so. It’s a wild ride and is generally regarded as a black comedy cult classic.

Arguably something of a one-book wonder, as his other books never replicated the cult status or commercial success of The Dice Man – and indeed, he revisited the same premise in a number of his other books. However, he did write a more conventional novel which I’m going to shout out here – Long Voyage Back in 1983, still one of my favorite post-apocalyptic books set after a nuclear war.