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

‘A joy’ Philippe Sands

‘Glorious’ David Spiegelhalter

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

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).