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Dice Man #2.1
Adventures of Wim
The book takes Luke's style to its logical conclusion, as the entire book is made up of sections taken from other, fictional books. The preface to the book claims that it was written in Deya, Majorca, in 2326. According to the book, an entire industry has grown up publishing books about a Montauk named Wim - including The Gospel According to Luke (Luke Forth, not Luke Rhinehart) and the screenplay of a movie. The screenplay is possibly in there as a result of Luke Rhinehart's continuing frustration in trying to get The Dice Man turned into a good movie. Adventures of Wim, then, is an effort to create a new interpretation of the story of Wim, drawing on the many previous efforts, and so providing a multi-faceted and whimsical account of 'one of the greatest figures in the 20th and 21st Century'.
A boy is born of a virgin mother and is named "Wim" (in Adventures of Wim) or "Whim" (in The Book of the Die and Whim): Montauk for "Wave Rider". He is pronounced to be the saviour of the Montauk nation by his tribe's navigator, and educated in their ways. Sadly, the humans steal him away and attempt to educate him in more useful skills, such as American Football. Wim, also known as "He of Many Chances", proves to be an inefficient saviour, as God sends him on a quest for Ultimate Truth. This does not seem to be something that will benefit his tribe terribly, but the navigator isn't one to stare down the barrel of a lightning gun, and sends him on his way. After a long and arduous search, Wim finds ultimate truth (in a potato), and with it the cure for the sickness of the human condition.
A boy is born of a virgin mother and is named "Wim" (in Adventures of Wim) or "Whim" (in The Book of the Die and Whim): Montauk for "Wave Rider". He is pronounced to be the saviour of the Montauk nation by his tribe's navigator, and educated in their ways. Sadly, the humans steal him away and attempt to educate him in more useful skills, such as American Football. Wim, also known as "He of Many Chances", proves to be an inefficient saviour, as God sends him on a quest for Ultimate Truth. This does not seem to be something that will benefit his tribe terribly, but the navigator isn't one to stare down the barrel of a lightning gun, and sends him on his way. After a long and arduous search, Wim finds ultimate truth (in a potato), and with it the cure for the sickness of the human condition.
- GenresFiction
409 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
2 people are currently reading
154 people want to read
About the author
Luke Rhinehart
32 books437 followersLuke Rhinehart was the pen name of the author George Cockcroft.
He was born in the United States, son of an engineer and a civil servant. He received a BA from Cornell University and an MA from Columbia University. Subsequently he received a PhD in psychology, also from Columbia. He married his wife, Ann, on June 30, 1956. He has three children.
After obtaining his PhD, he went into teaching. During his years as a university teacher he taught, among other things, courses in Zen and Western literature. He first floated the idea of living according to the casting of dice in a lecture. The reaction was reportedly of equal parts intrigue and disgust, and it was at this point he realized it could become a novel. Cockcroft began experimenting with dice a long time before writing The Dice Man, but this made progress on the novel rather slow.
In 1971, London-based publisher, Talmy Franklin, published The Dice Man, Cockcroft's first novel as Luke Rhinehart. Soon afterwards, Cockcroft was engaged in the creation of a dice center in New York City.
In 1975, he was involved in a round-the-world voyage in a large trimaran ketch. Later, he spent some time in a sailboat in the Mediterranean, where he taught English and from there moved to a former Sufi retreat on the edge of a lake in Canaan, New York.
On 1 August 2012, at the age of 80, Cockcroft arranged for his own death to be announced, as a joke.
Cockcroft passed away (for real) at the age of 87 on November 6. 2020.
He was born in the United States, son of an engineer and a civil servant. He received a BA from Cornell University and an MA from Columbia University. Subsequently he received a PhD in psychology, also from Columbia. He married his wife, Ann, on June 30, 1956. He has three children.
After obtaining his PhD, he went into teaching. During his years as a university teacher he taught, among other things, courses in Zen and Western literature. He first floated the idea of living according to the casting of dice in a lecture. The reaction was reportedly of equal parts intrigue and disgust, and it was at this point he realized it could become a novel. Cockcroft began experimenting with dice a long time before writing The Dice Man, but this made progress on the novel rather slow.
In 1971, London-based publisher, Talmy Franklin, published The Dice Man, Cockcroft's first novel as Luke Rhinehart. Soon afterwards, Cockcroft was engaged in the creation of a dice center in New York City.
In 1975, he was involved in a round-the-world voyage in a large trimaran ketch. Later, he spent some time in a sailboat in the Mediterranean, where he taught English and from there moved to a former Sufi retreat on the edge of a lake in Canaan, New York.
On 1 August 2012, at the age of 80, Cockcroft arranged for his own death to be announced, as a joke.
Cockcroft passed away (for real) at the age of 87 on November 6. 2020.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 16, 2016
Even if prophets and messiahs are all dead there are still more to arrive in the future… And Adventures of Wim is the new Holy Writ or should I say a modernized new testament of a novel obscure deliverer.
“Wim once saw two boys rocking up and down on a see-saw. First one boy went zooming upwards and then the other.
‘Which one of you is higher?’ Wim yelled with a smile.
‘I am!’ cried one boy.
‘I am!’ a moment late cried the other.
‘That’s the way it goes,’ said Wim to himself.
‘And which is lower?’ he asked.
‘He is!’ cried the first boy.
‘He is!’ a moment late cried the second.
That’s the way it goes,’ thought Wim.”
And the scripture isn’t just parables and gospels, it also includes a holy screenplay.
“Wim once saw two boys rocking up and down on a see-saw. First one boy went zooming upwards and then the other.
‘Which one of you is higher?’ Wim yelled with a smile.
‘I am!’ cried one boy.
‘I am!’ a moment late cried the other.
‘That’s the way it goes,’ said Wim to himself.
‘And which is lower?’ he asked.
‘He is!’ cried the first boy.
‘He is!’ a moment late cried the second.
That’s the way it goes,’ thought Wim.”
And the scripture isn’t just parables and gospels, it also includes a holy screenplay.
January 10, 2016
This book charts the birth of Wim to his mother Widepool of the Montauk tribe, his childhood, school years and subsequent adventures on his search for the "ultimate truth."
Accompanied on his travels and escapades by his friend Billy Best and his love interest Dawn, his quest takes him on many hilarious and unbelievable, hare brained adventures that finally conclude in spending time with the great Bobo and Narsufin, who are according to Wim, great holy men that are going to teach him the secret of his quest.
Crazy, zany and also very funny this is not for the faint hearted and to fully appreciate Luke Rhinehart's style of writing I think the reader has to have a pretty whacky sense of humour.
Overall a great, witty and inventive read.
Accompanied on his travels and escapades by his friend Billy Best and his love interest Dawn, his quest takes him on many hilarious and unbelievable, hare brained adventures that finally conclude in spending time with the great Bobo and Narsufin, who are according to Wim, great holy men that are going to teach him the secret of his quest.
Crazy, zany and also very funny this is not for the faint hearted and to fully appreciate Luke Rhinehart's style of writing I think the reader has to have a pretty whacky sense of humour.
Overall a great, witty and inventive read.
April 26, 2013
Don't read this as a sequel to The Dice Man. It is not a sequel. There may be similarities in some of the themes, and the author is the same person, but that is about it. This book is a hilarious history of a guru who does not want to be one - and they are the only really inspiring gurus anyway. I loved it, and will be re-reading it a couple of times. Puts a big grin on my face every time.
June 7, 2014
Some books can't match up to the original.
September 11, 2019
A lot of witty jokes, but not delivered in a style I cared for. I think I would have enjoyed the book as a teenager, but it is no longer for me.
December 12, 2021
Very very odd
May 22, 2025
Cleverly written but didn't enjoy it as much as the Dice Man. Gets bogged down at times.
June 29, 2021
My Goodness how I love this book.
It's funny, ridiculous, touching, and silly.
I would have read it in the late eighties when I was about twenty. I picked it up after reading the Dice Man. The book bills itself as the almost sequel to the Dice Man. It isn't, but then again it is.
Regardless, I'm now in my fifties and enjoyed it just as much.
It's funny, ridiculous, touching, and silly.
I would have read it in the late eighties when I was about twenty. I picked it up after reading the Dice Man. The book bills itself as the almost sequel to the Dice Man. It isn't, but then again it is.
Regardless, I'm now in my fifties and enjoyed it just as much.
October 7, 2014
Just as good as Rhinehart's better known The Dice Man. This is a work of genius.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews