"In this marvelous new book, Daniel Schillinger, taking his cue from Aristotle, offers subtle and original readings of a set of ancient Greek texts to reorient our understanding of luck from its being an agent "out there" to its moral, psychological, and rhetorical role in our political lives. No one, after reading this transformative work, will blithely invoke luck--whether good or bad--without thinking of Schillinger's rich readings of the ancient authors to demystify luck." --Arlene Saxonhouse, University of Michigan"Elegantly written and deeply thoughtful, Luckless is a book that shows that classical texts can illuminate enduring questions of human life. That is often claimed about classical texts, but not always so well demonstrated as it is here. The questions Schillinger takes up concern the meaning of luck, its role in our lives, and its significance as a concept that dwells more in our minds or souls than in the external world. His interpretation of what the classical authors have to say about luck is original and thought-provoking. Luckless is a major contribution to the study of classical thought." -- Devin Stauffer, Professor and Associate Chair of Government at the University of Texas at Austin"Do you feel lucky? Are you actually lucky? Luckless investigates how our stories about luck too often obscure the real reasons for things, both good and bad.

We want to believe in luck, but we need to look behind luck's veil if we are to address the ethical and political crises confronting us today. Cogent, lucid, and revelatory, Daniel Schillinger's book will transform your thinking about luck, full stop." -- Joel Alden Schlosser, Professor of Political Science and Fairbank Professor of Humanities, Bryn Mawr College.