At the Lucky Hand

Goran Petrović studied Yugoslav and Serbian literature at the University of Belgrade in the Faculty of Philology. He received the most prominent award in Serbian literature, the NIN Award, in 2000, for his novel At the Lucky Hand. Currently he works and lives in Belgrade. Petrović is a member of the Serbian Literary Association, the Serbian PEN Centre and the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Petrović’s novels and books of selected stories have been published in over fifty editions translated in French, German, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Bulgarian, Slovenian, Polish, Ukrainian, Macedonian, English and Dutch.

"Goran Petrović proves to be a master of lyrical storytelling and dreaming."— Jovan Delic, juror for Ivo Andrić Grand Prize for Lifetime Achievement"Pushing the idea of a 'community of readers' to fantastical and fascinating extremes and bending it around a classic story of separated lovers and hopeless romantics, At the Lucky Hand is like Shadow of the Wind told through the lens of playful deconstruction. It is a book lover's book that celebrates what we share in books, while wondering at all the ways we can love through them." ––Josh Cook, Porter Square Books"Above all, the basis of the story is clearly that books are life and life is books, with the two intertwining and overlapping continually... Imaginative and most original and you cannot help but be impressed with all the ins and outs of the tale." ––The Modern Novel“Various love stories centered around a book, in a collection that celebrates the power of literature.”— The New York Times“One could spend a pleasant hour wandering inside nearly every evocative sentence of At the Lucky Hand...Irresistibly engaging and virtuosically crafted, At the Lucky Hand marries high theory with high drama in spaces so quiet and invisible, that their liveliness takes one completely by surprise.”—Asymptote Journal“Petrović creates a world all about the passion for books: A series of detective and love stories that revolve around bibliophilic obsessions. In the process, he explores what it means to be a reader, and how fantasies transmute our reality.”—Asymptote Book Club