Ben’s life falls down around him, and he’s the protagonist, in this novel by master writer Ann Beattie. A Wonderful Stroke of Luck makes the reader giggle at their own misconceptions, with value systems undergoing radical changes from the beginning to the end. This narrative says that escaping one thing does not mean you get something else, and nothing can be expected from life, this is a fabulously interesting book with characters who are seldom what they seem.