Lucky Man by Ben Tanzer

Ben Tanzer's debut novel Lucky Man follows four friends from their final days of high school though their first couple of years out of college. Each has personal demons they are battling - anger, substance abuse, sexual identity, and detachment - and the novel is separated into four sections, with each section focusing predominantly on one of the friends and his individual struggles.

It is a story about friendship, growing-up and trying to move on. Interwoven throughout are explorations into dreams, the Twilight Zone, the Grateful Dead, and The Greatest American Hero. There are drugs, road trips, breakdowns, violence, and adultery. Fathers and sons try to make sense of their relationships and characters question what it means to know God. It is a quintessentially American tale, and at the end only one character remains on his feet. Whether this means he is lucky, or not, will need to be decided by the reader.

"Honest and often hilarious" --Time Out Chicago

"Seems like a Rubik's Cube on acid." --Williamette Week

Ben Tanzer lives in Chicago where he shoots pool, dabbles in social work, compulsively watches High School Musical, and spends all sorts of quality time with his lovely wife and young sons. He has had work published in a variety of magazines and journals including Rated Rookie, Clamor, Punk Planet, Abroad View, Opium, THE2NDHAND, Thieves Jargon, The Truth Magazine, Chicago Parent, Third Coast Press, 20dissidents, and Caketrain.