The Dice Man

The Dice Man is a semi-comedic[citation needed] 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 subversivity, 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.[citation needed]

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.[verification needed] Perhaps because of this, and despite the author and the character both being from the USA, it was initially less successful than in the United Kingdom and Scandinavia