The National Book Award winning author returns to his original fictional territory--the lives of the dispossessed in San Francisco--with a parable about the limitations of desire and life at the margins of society

In such earlier works of fiction as The Rainbow Stories and The Royal Family, William T. Vollmann wrote of pimps, prostitutes, addicts and homeless dreamers in San Francisco's Tenderloin district. In this new novel, Vollmann returns there with a story that centers around a woman with magical powers whom everyone loves, and who has to love them all back.

After being initiated into a coven of island witches, Neva begins to fulfill her fate in a Tenderloin dive bar. Her worshippers include Richard, the introverted, alcoholic, occasionally omniscient narrator; a profane, aggressive transgender sex worker named Shantelle; the brisk but motherly barmaid Francine; and the former Frank, who has renamed herself after her idol Judy Garland. When Judy starts to love Neva too much, Judy's retired policeman boyfriend embarks on a mission of exposure and destruction.

Crafted out of language by turns spiritual and sexually graphic, The Lucky Star aches with compassion as it explores celebrity culture, gender identity, incest, Christian sacrifice and, most of all, the quotidian and sometimes faltering heroism of marginalized people who in the face of humiliation and outright violence seek to love in their own way, and stand up for who they are.

• We started tracking this book on July 10, 2019.
• This book was $18.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 17 times in the past 2,477 days.
• The current price of this book is $6.99 last checked 5 hours ago.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past 90 days is $5.99.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is $4.99.
• The lowest price to date was $4.99 last reached on December 7, 2025.
• This book has been $4.99 3 times since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $18.99 last reached on July 10, 2019.
• This book has been $18.99 one time since we started tracking it.

• Literature & FictionLiterary FictionMystery, Thriller & Suspense
• Literature & FictionLiterary FictionHistorical

• Publication Date: February 18, 2020
• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 669 Pages
• File Size: 26 KB