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Description edit
The cult classic that can still change your life...Let the dice decide! This is the philosophy that changes the life of bored psychiatrist Luke Rhinehart -- and in some ways changes the world as well. Because once you hand over your life to the dice, anything can happen. Entertaining,... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
Bored New York psychiatrist begins living his life according to the roll of a dice in order to escape the constraints of his personality. Unpredictable, but ultimately boring.
I found this book fascinating rather than boring. I suppose it is a matter of taste.
Characters/People edit
- Dr. Lucius "Luke" Rhinehart: Disillusioned psychiatrist and proponent of Dice Theory
- Lilian Rhinehart: Wife of Dr. Rhinehart
- Dr. Jake Ecstein: Partner of Dr. Rhinehart
- Arlene Ecstein: Wife of Dr. Ecstein
- Mary Jane Reingold: Mutual secretary to Dr. Rhinehart and Dr. Ecstein
- Dr. Timothy Mann: Associate of Dr. Rhinehart and Dr. Ecstein. Eats lunch and plays poker with them.
- Dr. Renata Felloni: Associate of Dr. Rhinehart
- Frank Osterflood: Patient of Dr. Rhinehart with sado-masochistic tendencies
- Linda Reichman: Patient of Dr. Rhinehart who is drawn into the Dice Life
- Eric Cannon: Patient of Dr. Rhinehart who has a Jesus complex
- Arturo Toscanini Jones aka Arturo X: Patient of Dr. Rhinehart with a radical anti-establishment agenda
- Terry 'Tracy' Vigliota: Participant in a study conducted by Dr. Rhinehart and Dr. Felloni
- George O'Reilly: Participant in a study conducted by Dr. Rhinehart and Dr. Felloni
- Gina Potrelli: Prostitute visited by John Osterflood
- Larry Rhinehart: Son of Luke and Lil
- Evie Rhinehart: Daughter of Luke and Lil
- Edgarina Ecstein: Daughter of Arlene. Regarded as the first Dice Baby.
- Dr. Abraham Krum: German-American psychiatric researcher. Studying the introduction of psychosis to pigeons with limited success.
- Dr. Weinburger: Chairman of the Executive Committee of PANY. Ambitious, successful, but conventional.
- Dr. Cobblestone: Member of the Executive Comittee of PANY. Fair, rational and open-minded.
- Dr. Moon: Senior member of the Executive Committee of PANY. Contemporary of Sigmund Freud.
- Dr. Peerman: Member of the Executive Committee of PANY. Has a bit of a grudge against Dr. Rhinehart.
- Marya: Psychotherpist who contucted a seminar for the Fire Island Sensitivity Training Headquarters (FISTH) which Dr. Rhinehart and Linda Reichman attended.
- Fred Boyd: A young Harvard psychiatrist, known to Dr. Rhinehart.
- Joya Welish: Fred Boyd's girlfriend and date to a party hosted by Dr. Mann in honor of Dr. Krum
- Mrs. Sloan Wippleton: Host of 'Religion for Our Time' and Chairman of the First Presbyterian Church's Committee for Religious Tolerance
- Rabbi Eli Fishman: Panelist on 'Religion for Our Time' and its discussion on the Religion of the Die
- Dr. Eliot Dart: Panelist on 'Religion for Our Time' and its discussion on the Religion of the Die. Young, intelligent and an athiest.
- Rita: Woman hired by Dr. Rhinehart to help Mr. Jenkins.
- Henry Hopper: Attendee at the psychotherapy seminar at the Fire Island Sensitivity Training Headquarters (FISTH)
- Mr. Jenkins: Patient of Dr. Rhinehart who is a masochist. Feels he is destined to fail at everything.
- H.J. Wipple: Financier for the Centers for Experiments in Totally Random Environments (CENTREs) aka Dice Centers
- Mr. Thornton: Dr. Mann's servant. Likened to a cadaver in appearance and a mechanical skeleton in action.
Quotes edit
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“I shared my office on 57th Street with Dr Jacob Ecstein, young (thirty-three), dynamic (two books published), intelligent (he and I usually agreed), personable (everyone liked him), unattractive (no one loved him), anal (he plays the stock market compulsively), oral (he smokes heavily), non-genital (doesn’t seem to notice women), and Jewish (he knows two Yiddish slang words). Our mutual secretary was a Miss Reingold. Mary Jane Reingold, old (thirty-six), undynamic (she worked for us), unintelligent (she prefers Ecstein to me), personable (everyone felt sorry for her), unattractive (tall, skinny, glasses, no one loved her), anal (obsessively neat), oral (always eating), genital (trying hard), and non-Jewish (finds use of two Yiddish slang words very intellectual). Miss Reingold greeted me efficiently.”
Dr Luke Rhinehart -
“If that dice has a ‘one’ face up, I thought, I’m going downstairs to rape Arlene. ‘If it’s a one, I’ll rape Arlene’ kept blinking on and off in my mind like a huge neon light and my terror increased. But when I thought if it’s not a one I’ll go to bed, the terror evaporated and excitement swept over me: a one means rape, the other numbers mean bed, the die is cast. Who am I to question the dice?”
Dr Luke Rhinehart
Setting & Locations edit
Organizations edit
- American Medical Association (AMA): Organization founded in 1847 promoting the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health. Helps doctors help patients by uniting physicians nationwide to work on the most important professional and public health issues.
- Psychoanalitic Association of New York (PANY): Organization of psychoanalysts established in 1955, is a component society of the American Psychoanalytic Association. Its mission is to promulgate the profession of psychoanalysis.
- American Association of Practicing Psychiatrists (AAPP): The American Association of Practicing Psychiatrists <AAPP> is a nationwide 1,000 member advocacy organization of psychiatric physicians who have dedicated themselves to preserving the accessibility and availability of quality psychiatric care for patients, and reasonable reimbursement for the psychiatric physicians who provide that care.
First Sentence edit
I am a large man, with big butcher's hands, great oak thighs, rock-jawed head, and massive, thick-lens glasses.
Authors & Contributors edit
- Luke Rhinehart (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Talmy, Franklin Ltd
Country: Great Britain
Publication Date: 1971
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: 560
Publisher: Talmy, Franklin Ltd
Country: Great Britain
Publication Date: 1971
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: 560
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 813.54
Subjects edit
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