Lucky
Man
by Ben Tanzer
The Debut Novel
ISBN 13 978-0-9769690-1-3
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.
Lucky
Man cover artist Dan James, a.k.a. Ghostshrimp,
has had fifteen illustrations printed in the The New York Times Book Review.
©2008
Steve Lafler & Manx Media. All rights reserved
Ben
Tanzer releases his second novel, Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll
Go Mine on Orange Alert Press. The book is available
in preorder at present.
Most
Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine takes place in an early nineties New
York City and follows the romance between Jen and Geoff the novel's two main
characters. It is a story about fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, the
value of friends, the reason its best to go out for coffee on first dates and
what exactly defines being on the rebound. The characters riff on their favorite
books, channel Yoda and Bob Dylan, deal with siblings and try to make sense
of a world that shouldn't be as confusing as it seems to be. They also seek
greater self-awareness and debate why Dallas will always be superior to Knots
Landing, even as they find love, lose it and find it again.