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The most interesting aspect of this book is the concept - rolling a die to make life decisions. Makings of a fantastic page-turner you'd think? Unfortunately no. Dice Man reads like the autobiography of a family man having his fantasy mid-life crisis.

It is borderline misogynist in tone and really has no real message, ethos or values beyond the blindingly obvious - i.e. one life, make the most of it, take risks, etc, etc. I can only assume that people giving this book 5 star reviews are unhappy with their own lives and see this tosh as a self-help manual.

Most damningly, I found the plot dull, the prose repetitive and the cod philosophising patronising in the extreme. It did not excite, shock or enthrall. It certainly does not deserve comparisons to genuine classics like Catch 22. Avoid.

It's incredible boring to read, not funny and a waste of money. The idea is good enough but it all falls to the ground. I was bored in the beginning, midway and couldn't be bothered to read on. That happens rarely for me. The Dice Man is just a very boring book, that's it.

Very much a book of its time (the seventies, man!), in style and morality and the obsession with sex and the sheer heartlessness and brutality.

Rhinehart makes a good job of picking apart the Dice-Man's philosophy, showing it for what it really is (a breakdown). It's very much a period-piece and appears to have been written as an allegory of its Times, in fact, I'd say reading it as such is the only way to truly `get it'.

It's interesting, best in the beginning and the end (the middle, it has to be said, flags badly). It's quite graphic, not for the faint-hearted.

The concept of the book is simple. Luke Rhinehart, supposedly the real author of this book, is bored of his life as a husband, father and psychologist. He is also intrigued by the idea that we all have multiple personalities, most of which never see the light because we suppress them for whatever reason, be it conforming to a social norm or whatever. He decides to shake up his life by giving himself a set of options in a given situation and then applying each one to the number on a die. He throws the die, and goes with the option. The rules are that he must not give himself any option which he would not be prepared to follow through, and whatever the dice decides, he MUST do no matter what. He becomes increasingly obsessed with the die's way of life, leading to drastic results.

The reason I've given it 2 stars instead of 1 is because the concept is clever and intriguing, and there is some dark humour in the book which had me laughing out loud. However, there is some disturbing and frankly quite worrying material in this book which appalled me.

Let me start off by saying I am definitely no prude. I am also not lacking in a sense of humour. I am not offended by language or sexual scenes in fiction - depending, that is, on the purpose. In this book, however, there appears to be no purpose whatsoever to the sexual imagery which is at times grotesque, perverted and disturbingly violent. I would go as far to say (as other reviewers have) that this novel appears to be a supposedly legitimate realm for the author to explore his most perverted and violent fantasies. The casual and comic slant he gives to the subject of rape particularly appalls me. As mentioned earlier, one rule is that Rhinehart should never give himself an option he would not be happy to carry out. The fact that he frequently gives himself the option of rape, and that the author appears to be quite approving of that, is abhorrent. He gets round this by proposing that the narrator is so goodlooking and charming, he merely has to suggest sex and women fall into bed with him. But the point remains the same: the narrator is willing to commit rape, and the author is quite happy to present this as a normal (and comical) thing.

Aside from the extremely offensive material, this book has other flaws, the main one being that the plot is supposedly random (decided by the die) but the author has devised every step along the way to bring about the most interesting outcome. This destroys the whole premise of the story. The plot is also repetitive and seemingly meaingless. The narrator is possibly the most unpleasant main character in fiction; I couldn't imagine identifying and sympathising less with anyone. For me, I have to care about the main character, or at least be interested by him/her. Otherwise what's the point? The narrative is cruel, snide and blatantly mysoginistic; the various devices (such as switching from third to first person) irritating and pretentious.

All in all I would say this was terrible in almost every way, rescued only by the occasional great use of humour. I would hate to think of the influence it could have on certain readers.

The Dice Man is a book I'd heard about and was happy to read when it was suggested for book club. It started off well; a depressed psychiatrist roles a dice to determine his fate, starting a random chain of events that challenge his identity and steer him further and further from his comfortable middle class life. In its anarchic and comic way, the novel asks why we stick to the narrow scripted roles we're familiar with, when we have the ability to choose from a much wider range of life's possibilities? Where do the boundaries lie between what is sane and insane? etc etc. Sounds quite good? Well, you've only heard half of it....

It's funny in places, but not funny enough to stretch over 500 pages. After the half way mark it becomes extremely repetitive. I disliked most of the characters and the women, were just there so that Luke, the main character, could have plenty of sex. Yes, there is PLENTY of sex in this novel, but it's very technical and seriously UNsexy and after a while it's just boring... This is such a blokes' book; a young, arrogant, sexist kind of a bloke at that! I should have noticed the quote on the cover, before I started: 'Novelist of the Century' according to LOADED Magazine.... The other thing is that it feels SOOOO dated. It was written in 1971 and you can really tell. Supposedly 'shocking' and 'revelatory', I really felt I'd been there before. It reminds me a little of Catch-22, but not half as good.