Outrageous fortune gloomy reflections on luck and life / William Ian Miller.

Author/creator Miller, William Ian, 1946-
Other author Oxford University Press.
Format Electronic
Publication InfoNew York : Oxford University Press, 2021.
Description1 online resource
Supplemental ContentFull text available from Oxford Scholarship Online
Subjects

Abstract "In this book, William Ian Miller offers his reflections on the perverse consequences, indeed, often the opposite of intended effects, of so-called good things. Noted for his remarkable erudition, wit, and playful pessimism, Miller here ranges over topics from personal disasters to literary and national ones. Drawing on a truly immense store of knowledge encompassing literature, philosophy, theology, and history, he excavates the evidence of human anxieties around scarcity in all its forms (from scarcity of food to luck to where we stand in the eyes of others caught in a game of musical chairs we often do not even know we are playing). With wit and sensitivity, along with a large measure of fearless self-scrutiny, he points to and invites us to recognize the gloomy, neurotic, despondent tendencies of reasonably sentient human life. The book is a careful examination of negative beliefs, inviting an experience of bleak fellow-feeling among the author, the reader, and many a hapless soul across the centuries. Just what makes you more nervous, he asks, a run of good luck, or a run of bad?"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
Access restrictionAvailable only to authorized users.
Technical detailsMode of access: World Wide Web
Source of descriptionDescription based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
Issued in other formPrint version: Miller, William Ian, 1946- Outrageous fortune New York : Oxford University Press, 2021. 9780197530689
Genre/formElectronic books.
LCCN 2020023115
ISBN9780197530702 (epub)
ISBN(hardback)

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