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    The Dice Man
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    The Dice Man
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    The Dice Man
    Audiobook17 hours

    The Dice Man

    Written by Luke Rhinehart

    Narrated by Robert G Slade

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    The cult classic that can still change your life…

    Let the dice decide!

    When a bored psychologist hands over all of his decisions to chance, making choices on the roll of a die, he transforms his life – and the world.

    Because when you follow the dice, anything can happen.

    Entertaining, shocking, funny, and frightening – fifty years after its first publication, THE DICE MAN remains one of the most influential and subversive cult novels of all time.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 6, 2018
    ISBN9780008321598
    Unavailable
    The Dice Man
    Author

    Luke Rhinehart

    Between his two Dice Man titles, Luke Rhinehart wrote three other acclaimed novels: Matari, Long Voyage Back and Adventures of Wim. He is also the author of seven screenplays, several based on his own novels, and currently resides in the United States.

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    Reviews for The Dice Man

    3.5/5

    713 ratings33 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      So glad this is on Scribd. Randomly picked this book up years ago like 2001 time. The audiobook version is giving it a whole new dimension. Excellently narrated! Loving it
    • 1/5
      the way it is written is not so nice to follow.. the story doesn't make sense and it didn't change my life at all. I don't recommend
    • 3/5
      I struggled to the end of this because I was intrigued by the philosophical content about chance and character but unfortunately it was never developed beyond the rudiments. Instead, there was an awful lot of repetitive, graphic sexual action which I find quite boring, I think it was meant to be funny. If you like that sort of thing you will enjoy.
    • 5/5
      The dice told me to rate this book 6 stars so here’s the 6th one ★. This is probably one of the most deranged and disturbing books that I have ever read. If you have any sense of morals something about it is going to upset you but also you may be entertained and amused too.
    • 2/5
      The fantastic premise and story is overshadowed entirely by the raunch and ugliness in this 1971 novel. I've read CATCH-22 and CUCKOO'S NEST which bear some similarity, but the level of misogyny here was disgusting, and I can overlook a lot. I quit halfway through - but changed my mind and decided to see what would happen.Psychiatrist Luke Rhinehart is bored with his life, so one night he decides to roll some dice to tell him whether to rape Arlene, family friend, colleague's wife, and upstairs neighbor. The dice say to do it. So he "rapes" her (she wants it).Exhilarated, he starts applying dice throws to other decisions in his life. Things go crazy quick. He feels he has stumbled upon a deep psychological discovery:"It was the goddam sense of having a self. What if - at the time it seemed like an original thought - what if the development of a sense of self is normal and natural, but is neither inevitable nor desirable? What if it represents a psychological appendix: a useless, anachronistic pain in the side?" Soon he has given up control of his entire life to the dice.After he's done this for some period of time, the thought of going back to pre-dice life frightens him. "I thought of writing that from then on all dice decisions would be recommendations and not commands. In effect, I would be changing the role of dice from commander-in-chief to advisory council. The threat of having 'free will' again paralyzed me; I never wrote the option."His wife at first has no idea what's going on, only sees him going crazy; feels she's going crazy herself seeing him swing from loving to distant seemingly on random whim (actually on random dice throws). One day the dice tell him to leave her and the children forever. It's the hardest thing they have ever told him to do (worse than rape and murder) but he does it.Another woman he takes up with demands, "How am I supposed to enjoy being with you if I feel you can go 'poof' at any minute from some random fall of a die?" "Everything may evaporate at any instant," he retorts. "Everything! You, me, the most rocklike personality since Calvin Coolidge: death, destruction, despair may strike. To live your life assuming otherwise is insanity."I kept reading for the insights like this. And I went back to it after I quit because it really was a gripping story. At once point, when the dice tell him to murder someone he knows, he makes a list of 36 people and asks the dice to tell him who. His wife and kids are on the list. (Why does he put these horrible things on the lists in the first place!?!) I found myself actually covering the end of the chapter with my fingers so that I couldn't accidentally see the name of the victim in advance. That's a gripping story.Another book it reminded me of, and maybe was trying to emulate, was LOLITA, in its first-person unapologetic wacko humor in the midst of disgusting subject matter - but in no way shape or form does it ever approach the literary quality of that classic.Full disclosure, I am someone who has used random number generators to decide things like what to eat. NOT whom to murder, though.
    • 1/5
      What was the point?
    • 2/5
      "It's the way a man chooses to limit himself that determines his character. A man without habits, consistency, redundancy-and hence boredom-is not human. He's insane."I first heard mention of The Dice Man in a walking magazine of all things, of using a dice to decide which direction you should take (within limits) when you got to a path junction, so when I spotted it only a couple of weeks later I couldn't resist picking it up. Imagine living your life at the whim of a roll of a dice, every decision you make left to chance. Luke Rhinehart, a Manhattan psychiatrist,finds himself stuck in a rut. He has a successful practice, a loving wife and two kids but feels his life is empty. Even worse, he sees no possibility of it improving. One night, he decides to roll a die to determine whether he should go and rape the wife of one of his friends and neighbour. The die tells him to do it and so he proceeds to the neighbours apartment where the woman quickly consents. From that point forward, Rhinehart gradually turns all of his decisions over to the dice and as he throws off his own restraints, so he also begins to preach the virtues of “dice living” to the general public, causing many people to abandon their lives to the whims of the dice. There is certainly a sardonic humour here as it questions the norms of civilised society and what constitutes madness but it is more bludgeoning than subtle: “This is a great land of freedom but it isn’t made for people who insist on insisting on their own ideas” “Tell me the manner in which a patient commits suicide and I’ll tell you how he can be cured".It also touches on some pretty thorny topics like religion, homosexuality, child molestation and murder amongst others, however, far too much of the book seems to simply centre on the author's sexual fantasies. I certainly would not regard myself as a prude but after a while these simply became repetitive, like something that you would find in "Playboy" or a similar publication.Set in 1969 and written in the early 1970's towards the end of 'free love' and the height of the Cold War when world annihilation seemed a real possibility this is a book that sets out to shock. Whilst some of the humour could certainly be described as edgy (some of the character names are certainly amusing)and I found myself wanting to turn the pages to find out what happened next I also felt that it rather ran out of steam, as if the author had run out of ways to shock the reader, meaning that some of the jokes fell flat. As such this book although it still has the power to shock and offend it also feels of it's time.This is certainly what can best be described as a Marmite book, some will certainly love it, some will hate it but everybody will find something distasteful about it. However, it also asks the reader a question. Will breaking the patterns of our lives lead to fuller ones?“From children to men we cage ourselves in patterns to avoid facing new problems and possible failure; after a while men become bored because there are no new problems. Such is life under the fear of failure”
    • 5/5
      Like nothing else you or I have ever read. This story of a psychologist who decides to guide his life using the results of a die toss is alternately hysterical, horrifying, and pornographic--but never less than engrossing. And through it all, despite the randomness of it all, it somehow remains quite serious in its depiction of the failure of "normal" practices to consistently cure anyone of their phobias and other mental issues. The transformation of the narrator (a pseudonym also used by author George Cockroft for his later novels) is like watching a car wreck--but is it really a transformation if it is all dictated by the die (or in the case of really complex decisions, the dice.) He even attracts followers from the most unlikely places. The book is full of memorable scenes, such as Rhinehart's hearing before the Psychiatrist's Association of New York is a high point, as are some of the letters he receives from fans, and the way his colleague, Dr. Jake Ecstein, behaves, despite being the victim of Rhinehart's initial dice-dictated outrage. But there's no way to really describe the joys of reading this book without giving too much away. Just try it. If you're not hooked in the first few page, maybe you're just not a diceperson.
    • 4/5
      "The Dice Man" is one of those novels that could only have been written in the 1970s; catching the zeitgeist of a more permissible society. A stockbroker who decides to make all of his decisions on the roll of a dice. This, as you could imagine, leads him to all sorts of strife. I'm sure a lot of people have read this and mused on many important, thought provoking topics. Not me; I just read it, laughed a few times and went on with my life.
    • 4/5
      Wow. How do I begin describing this book?

      Perhaps I should note why I even asked for this as a Christmas gift. I had heard about it via a song by one of my favorite bands, Talk Talk. A book that would inspire a song…and a song by Mark Hollis, no less. "The dice decide my fate," it says. Interesting. And that's the basic idea here: a practicing psychiatrist who has pretty much the ideal life by most of our standards is bored, apparently, and one day by inspiration decides…well, he decides he will make no more decisions. At least without consulting the dice. First, it's whether he will go downstairs and "rape" his best friend and partner's wife…

      (Jim notes: Rhinehart calls it "rape", but the act appears to be consensual. More or less. Don't blame me, I'm only reporting this stuff.)

      …and as time goes by, it develops into more of a therapy for himself, and then for patients. And then, a way of life. And then, a religion, based only totally random existence. It's kinda seductive in a bizarre way: you make no more decisions, the die makes them all. Want to know what you're going to do tomorrow? Sit down, write out a list of possibilities—throw in something outrageous for variety's sake, say, "I will go out and murder someone"—and then throw the dice. Whatever comes up, do it! And you MUST do it…otherwise the whole idea of the totally random life fails.

      Obviously, this is not a book for everybody. It is potentially offensive on so many levels I can barely list them…it's profane, it's borderline pornographic, and it's almost completely wonderful. It goes on perhaps a bit too long for what it's about, and some of the sex scenes are WAY over the top. Your mileage, as they say, may vary. The point of view changes frequently during the story as well, and at times it seems pretty schizophrenic. But dammit, it fits within the context of the notion of randomness. But otherwise I can't fault it much. The scene describing where Luke manages to break out 38 mental patients—some of them quite violent—on the pretext of taking them to see "Hair" is a riot, but pales when compared to a (needlessly) graphic depiction of a "therapy" session arranged with a female patient. Research, you know. Some research! And Rhinehart's identity changes at least three times during this little vignette…

      I can imagine there are probably some folks who took this thing as a cue for changing their own lives; in fact, the book itself reads, "Few books can change your life. This one can." Well, maybe, but not in any way I'd care to explore seriously. Or, as Mark Hollis said, "A good book, not a lifestyle I'd recommend." Still, it was deeply fascinating, almost disturbingly so.

      "Create the options. Shake the dice. All else is nonsense."

      Enjoy. Or not.
    • 1/5
      Not sure how this got to be a cult book. I enjoyed the 70s feel of the story, but couldn't get over the inherent flaw in the logic behind the idea of being liberated by assigning decisions to the roll of a dice. By inherent flaw, I mean that by both assigning a choice of action to the dice or by choosing to roll the dice in the first place, the choice is made by man not dice.

    • 5/5
      An extraordinary book. This brilliant concept of rolling your life away simply blew me away.
      In parts, it was simply hilarious and shocking in equal measure.
      Brilliantly written, this has stayed with me for years.

    • 4/5
      cover claims to change your life, it's not that amazing, although I might do something different because I read it. worthwhile
    • 4/5
      You read a book like this and you know it hides something you need to know. You keep reading and rereading desperate to discover the secret message hidden between the lines, before eventually laying it down. But from now on your quest for answers never abates and that's the point of this novel. Rhinehart signposts the way but he doesn't show it, for it can't be shown. The answer lies in the question and after reading this you can't stop questioning...
    • 1/5
      Who knew that going crazy could be so damn boring? I'm sure this concept could have been played out better in maybe half the page count. Like a big long masturbatory guitar solo in the form of a novel.
    • 3/5
      Bored but successful New York psychologist Dr Lucius Rhinehart decides to embrace a new way of life by letting the throw of dice decide all his day-to-day and long-term life decisions. This is the story of a man's willful self-destruction and supposed rebirth as The Diceman.As the dice take control of his actions, desires and apparent personality his life unwinds into an increasingly sporadic and chaotic existence with the dice choosing between some fairly hair-raising and dangerous options.However as Dr R dissolves into ever more random behaviour, the cult of Dice-Living evolves into a Nation-wide religion as bored business people, counter-culturists and faded stars of stage and screen are drawn into the latest mind-expanding craze.I found this book probably dragged on a bit long, though it was written lightly and humourously mostly in first person. Overall I found it enjoyable, and an intersting and thought-provoking exploration of ignoring society's norms without any safeguard, and the ramifications of thereof.This book has a lot of sex in it, which is not erotic, more comic and by the end, almost reaching American Psycho levels of debauchery (though nowhere near the violence thankfully), though of course where the dice direct Dr R to have sex, it is often with someone who is not anticipating it, and again this can be a bit of a moral toe-curler to put it mildly.The Dice-driven Dr Rhineharts' encounters with strait-laced American Middle Class of an older era is really what makes the book funny.I would broadly recommend this book, it's funny and thought provoking, but does see The Diceman ignore morals consistantly......unless the dice will him to observe them.
    • 2/5
      An interesting concept, but I find it too reliant on the humor, and the humor itself too smug and arch for my taste. I need to stop even trying to read any satire.
    • 1/5
      I loved the idea of this book but still i was forced to do something i hate to do - i stopped reading halfway through it. I couldn't persevere any longer the main character (& apparently the author) was dispicable & increasingly got on my nerves. What sort of person uses boredom as an excuse to do horrendous things to people he supposedly cares(or cared) for. I can only put my dislike for this book down to the fact it was written in the 1960s. If theres a cult following in this day & age then theres some tedious pricks out there...
    • 1/5
      I hate to admit it but I gave up after 150 pages. I had really high hopes but in the end I found the content a little too distasteful and the tone a little too self-aggrandizing. I wanted it to be a lot funnier and light-hearted than it actually was. But then I suppose if you are going to let your life decisions be guided by the roll of the dice you must be fairly lacking in morality in the first place!!
    • 5/5
      Absolutely brilliant, kept me laughing throughout and thinking differently to this day.
    • 5/5
      The Dice Man was recommended to me by a friend a couple of years back. His brief synopsis sounded familiar - I'd definitely heard or read something about it, but that was all I knew. After discovering a few months ago that I still hadn't read it, he loaned me his own copy. Finally - feeling guilty about leaving it sitting around so long - I promoted it to the top of my "to be read" pile and got stuck in. I can't believe I put it off so long, and I'm glad my friend was so persistent.This novel has the author in the lead role, as a psychiatrist who decides to start choosing all of his actions by the roll of the dice. He does this in an attempt to add some variety to his life, as he's feeling blocked creatively, professionally, and in his relationship with his wife and family. Soon he begins to plan his whole life by creating lists of potential goals and activities and choosing from them at random. His willingness to list outrageous possibilities and his determination to follow through on the outcome of the dice quickly result in his life spiralling into chaos - yet he finds this state (which even includes a stint in a mental institution) to be much more personally fulfilling than the successful professional life he'd been leading previously.This is an amazing book! I found it to be an insightful look at what it means to be happy or successful in modern society, and at the sometimes paralysing sense of apathy or immobility that can infect even the most outwardly happy people. The preface sets up the premise of the story by warning that the narrative will change tack at random according to the roll of the author's dice - and while this metafictional technique could have resulted in a disjointed and unreadable story I found that it worked extremely well, giving the author license to switch from first person narrative to transcripts of audio recordings, to excerpts from news articles and so on.It's satirical, with a pervasive black humour that had me laughing out loud at times. The protagonist is certainly no saint, and uses the dice to give himself an excuse to perform some pretty horrible acts - nonetheless I found him to be a sympathetic and at times even quite likeable character.This book reminded me a lot of Chuck Palahniuk's "Fight Club", though it predates it by 25 years. They both seemed to me to have that same black humour, and both describe a protagonist's confrontingly non-traditional search for a meaning of life.I thoroughly enjoyed it - now I'll have to grab a copy for myself!
    • 5/5
      This is a fantastic book! It says on the back it is a "cult classic" which sometimes puts me off as niche market type books, but this sounded like an interesting idea so I gave it a go.Basically, its about a psychologist who starts living his life by letting dice decide which option he will go with - sometimes fairly minor decisions, sometimes major ones like leaving his wife and children, or choosing to murder somebody.This book is funny, quirky, original and very intriguing, and it had me hooked and reading as quickly and intensely as possible alongside full-time job and looking after a three-year old. Its definitely a book I'll be hanging on to, and that will stay with me for a long time. I might also try and hunt down the sequel....
    • 5/5
      'This book will change your life' asserted the cover when I picked up a well-used copy in 1974. It was right. Rhinehart's abdication of responsibility to the roll of the die encouraged me to take a broader look at the available options when I had to make decisions in my own life. The immorality of taking an overtly amoral stance is intriguing: Rhinehart chooses always to include an 'undesirable' option but then shrugs off any culpability for his crimes if the dice 'told' him to do them. Ultimately, I learned that we cannot escape responsibility for our actions whatever we may say.
    • 5/5
      This is an excellent book. I sought it out deliberately as I was aware of the brilliant premise of removing some of the determinism from decisions. As a concept, I enjoyed the book tremendously. If you are looking for a critique or witty satirical caracature of the US healthcare system, or a psychoanalytical statement of the importance of the self then this may not necessarily be what you're looking for. Dice Man is deeply provocative and scores a direct hit in the attempt to entertain by taking the reader on a ride around a re-engineered reality and challenging their own assumptions and decisions.The book is not without limitations, the plot doesn't quite hold together in places and this is actually tacitly acknowledged by the author. The characters are at times a little simplistic but these quibbles did not matter in the slightest for me. The book appeals to the part of me that absolutely loves Fight Club and thoroughly enjoyed Death Race 2000. If you make this book a serious and literal study then I doubt that it'll be for you but with a little suspension of disbelief about the plot dynamics, it's an outstanding read.There are some scenes that may make some readers uncomfortable and I'd not recommend it for those of a sensitive disposition. Those with an appreciation for alternative lifestyles may however find some of the ideas inspiring.
    • 4/5
      The account of psychologist who opts out of society by leaving more and more decisions to chance. Half a story of spiralling insanity and half a diatribe against the suffocating, destructive nature of society, you can't help but be amused by Rinehart's very sexy, very witty anecdotes.
    • 1/5
      The dice told me never, ever to read another book by the author.
    • 4/5
      Compelling but troubling novel about a psychologist who, becoming bored with life, founds what is essentially a new religion, based almost purely on chance. Somewhat racy in parts.
    • 5/5
      The claim that "this book will change your life" is one I have heard many times before, and it often fails to do so. In this case however it did.The book spends its first few chapter building up your sense of the established order, only for it to be rapidly torn down in the following ones. As you follow Luke on the roller coaster ride that is the life of the die you see him slowly destroy everything we hold dear to us, yet you also see him have moments of questioning what he is doing. It is this aspect that makes him come to life.You will find yourself both repulsed and attracted at the thought of The Dice Man.After reading this book, I thought well it hasn't changed my life, but I was wrong. I found myself paying more attention to my desires and all the little voices. I found myself questionning what I had previously taken for granted. I may not have gone to such an extreme as Luke, but I have certainly discovered more about myself, my stereotypes, and ultimately society.This book HAS changed my life... and I don't regret it.
    • 1/5
      I am a big fan of funny memoirs( see my list). This title was strongly recommended to me on various sites. It looked funny and there were great reviews. i found it to be boring and actually hard to get through! I think there were too many characters also.
    • 5/5
      A cult classic. Roll the dice to decide the big directions of your life. Whole sects were created on the back of this book.