As Luck Would Have It

September 1, 2003
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 Pokémon. 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."

June 1, 2003
After his best-selling "Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook" series-stories of good luck that give you hope.

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2003
Readers who remember the television series "That's Incredible! "will have some idea what to expect from this book. Piven has assembled a handful of stories about people whose lives were affected by luck, either bad or good. Here's the man who bought a hot dog with a $100 bill, took his change in lottery tickets, and won $181.5 million. Here's the advertising copywriter who struck it rich because he decided to write a spoof pet-owners' guide to be sold with the pet itself: the Pet Rock. Here's the rock band that lucked into a smash-hit single because its video was among the first aired on MTV. And so on. In his introduction, the author claims his book will examine how one's attitude affects the kind of luck one experiences in life, but the text fails to deliver on the author's promise. Those looking for a philosophical or psychological examination of the concept of luck will be disappointed, but readers satisfied with the "That's Incredible! "approach will get exactly what they're looking for. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)