The Biology of Luck

It's Wednesday, June 16, 2004—the 100th Bloomsday—in New York City. Odd-job queen Starshine Hart is about to go on somebody else's perfect date. At 29, the usually carefree Starshine has realized that it is easier to start sleeping with a man than to stop. Her lovers include one of the last underground members of the Weathermen and the heir to a lawn chair magnate, both of whom have staked their romantic future on her. Her only respite is an impending dinner with her homely, nonthreatening friend Larry Bloom, a New York City tour guide. But Larry, too, has a stake in her future. He has secretly written a book about Starshine in which he fantasizes about her life on the day he wins her heart. Interleaving Larry's guided tour of New York City that day with chapters of the novel in which he imagines Starshine's concurrent escapades, The Biology of Luck weaves a richly imaginative love story across all five boroughs.

This is a new edition of Appel's celebrated novel, first published in 2013 by Elephant Rock Books.