As Luck Would Have It
Incredible Stories, from Lottery Wins to Lightning Strikes
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- 4,99 €
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- 4,99 €
Publisher Description
I felt, intuitively, that luck exists. It’s like capitalism: For better or for
worse, and whether you believe in it or not, luck is inescapable. —from As Luck Would Have It
While cowriting the books in the Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook series, Joshua Piven came across dozens of people with tremendously compelling stories of triumph (or misfortune), seemingly against all odds and logic. When they were asked what they had in common, invariably their answer was: good luck, or not enough of it. The beneficiary of his own brand of extraordinary luck in publishing, Piven decided to take a closer look at how this phenomenon plays a part in success and survival.
As Luck Would Have It offers a fascinating survey of the phenomenon, presented through incredible first- person stories: the swimming pool repairman who had only a hundred-dollar bill to pay for his hot dog, asked for his change in lottery tickets, and won $180 million; the woman who survived a plane crash at sea; the teller who was struck by lightning while at his window inside the bank; the guy who invented the Pet Rock. Weaving the subjects’ own beliefs about their experiences with compelling research on chance, probability, and luck psychology, As Luck Would Have It also includes research on how to prepare for luck, how to deal with it when it arrives, and how to make the choices that will help us benefit from luck.
Mesmerizing, by turns hilarious and harrowing, As Luck Would Have It offers a series of scenarios that are at once unimaginable and vividly real.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As a former technology journalist who was offered an opportunity to coauthor what became the phenomenally bestselling Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook and its five sequels, Piven is no stranger to the vagaries of fortune. This series of short profiles of people who have experienced good or bad luck is less a scientific investigation of the nature of fortune and more a paean to those, in many cases, extraordinary individuals who were affected by and reacted to moments of chance events. Among his subjects who benefited from good luck are a contractor whose chance purchase of lottery tickets nets $336 million and a whale researcher who instinctively grabs a radio that saves her after her plane crashes at sea. He profiles people who developed an interesting idea into a phenomenon: the inventor of pet rocks and the American importer of the Japanese game Pok mon. And in the case of a bank teller struck by lightning, Piven shows how 15 years of pain led to the formation of an international advocacy group for lightning strike and electric shock victims. These people are all fascinating, and the details in each profile are well presented. Overall, however, the writing lacks the lively wit that gave substance to what could have been just dull detail in the Survival handbooks. Also, Piven's attempts to draw broader conclusions from his subjects' experiences only result in extremely general insights, such as those in a short concluding chapter that lists "luck management techniques" such as "be prepared" and "keep an open mind."
