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.
©2007
Steve Lafler & Manx Media. All rights reserved