Suddenly, the father that abandoned Nashe as a child dies, leaving his children a large amount of money.

Nashe, knowing that Juliet will be happier with her aunt, pays off all of his debts, buys a Saab and pursues "a life of freedom" by spending a year driving back and forth across the country.

The two hatch a plan to fleece a couple of wealthy bachelors named Flower and Stone in a poker game.

Having run out of money Nashe decides to risk everything on "a single blind turn of a card" and puts up his car as collateral against the pot.

Nashe promptly takes the car up to eighty-five miles an hour and deliberately collides, head-on into an oncoming vehicle.

In 2009, Audible.com produced an audio version of The Music of Chance, narrated by Marc Vietor, as part of its Modern Vanguard line of audiobooks.