Rhinehart, Luke
Entry updated 13 January 2025. Tagged: Author.
Pseudonym of US teacher and author George Powers Cockcroft (1932-2020), best known for his Dice Man books, a sequence beginning with his first novel, The Dice Man (1971; rev 1983); publicity for the novel wrongly described its author as a psychiatrist. The tale, whose protagonist is named Luke Rhinehart, dramatizes a philosophy of chance – with life decisions made according to a throw of the dice – which, given dramatic fictional form, leads to what might seem a series of starter's orders, which must paradoxically be obeyed, for the acte gratuit. In its direct sequel, The Search for the Dice Man (1993), the son of the first book's protagonist, an over-controller, learns much on his search, and passes it on. The Adventures of Wim (1986; rev vt Whim 2002), indirectly linked to The Dice Man, is a long, frequently garrulous Fantastic Voyage during which the eponymous innocent travels through time and space, as recounted centuries later by those who consider him to have been a Messiah. The Book of the Die (2000) is a nonfiction advocacy.
Matari (1975; vt White Wind, Black Rider 2002) is a heavily allegorical love story set in a partly mythologized eighteenth-century Japan. Long Voyage Back (1983) takes the crew of a small ship through World War Three and subsequent Post-Holocaust ordeals and from Chesapeake Bay to Chile. In Jesus Invades George (2008), an Alternate History fantasy set in 2007, George W Bush finds himself possessed by Jesus Christ, who begins to transform the world. Invasion (2016) is humorous First-Contact sf in which playful-seeming Aliens visit Earth and cause considerable disruption via Internet hacking, leading to much Satire of contemporary Politics and its use of the "terrorist" label. Rhinehart's books may sometimes flood the reader with lessons, but have vivid moments. [JC]
George Powers Cockcroft
born Albany, New York: 15 November 1932
died Canaan, New York: 6 November 2020
works
series
Dice Man
- The Dice Man (New York: William Morrow, 1971) [Dice Man: hb/]
- The Dice Man (New York: Dell Books, 1983) [rev of the above: Dice Man: pb/]
- Adventures of Wim (London: Grafton, 1986) [Dice Man: hb/David Cox Studios]
- Whim (Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2002) [rev vt of the above: Dice Man: pb/]
- The Search for the Dice Man (London: HarperCollins, 1993) [Dice Man: hb/]
- The Book of the Die (Woodstock, New York: Overlook Press, 2000) [nonfiction: Dice Man: hb/]
individual titles
- Matari (London: Hart Davis, McGibbon, 1975) [hb/nonpictorial]
- White Wind, Black Rider (place not given: Authorhouse, 2002) [vt of the above: pb/]
- Long Voyage Back (New York: Henry Holt, 1983) [hb/Michael Dudash]
- Jesus Invades George (place not given: Authorhouse, 2008) [pb/]
- Invasion (London: Titan Books, 2016) [pb/Amazing15]
links
previous versions of this entry