The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists
by Neil Strauss
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Book Summary Information
Author: Neil StraussEdition: Imitation Leather
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-09-06
ISBN: 0060554738
Number of pages: 452
Publisher: It Books
Product features:
- Imitation Leather: 452 pages
- Publisher: It Books; 1 edition (September 6, 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0060554738 ,ISBN-13: 978-0060554736
Book Reviews of The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists
Book Review: The book that summarizes American stupidity
Summary: 5 Stars
Not sure how long this review will stay up, as Amazon saw fit to delete my previous one, yet managed to leave up some serious defamation against me by other reviewers. Seems someone doesn't want me getting my message out.
Here you have an interesting dual story: the story of women who were played by the men they thought they had whipped, and the story of an American public that dismisses internet writers as amateurs, yet gobbles up the same material while happily paying $25 a copy to a "major publisher."
My original review of this book was posted after I had skimmed through it in a bookstore, and was based in large part on my knowledge of the people and events it portrays. Like "Searching For Bobby Fischer," this is a book that I lived through as well as read, and now that I've had several months to digest the material in greater depth, as well as seeing public reaction to it, I can write a more pointed review.
I know several of Neil Strauss's friends from The Game: I should, since two of them are defendants in a lawsuit I filed over RICO, Antitrust violations, defamation, and conduct which included several threats against my life, as well as perpetual disparagement of me and my methods (the case is Parker v. Learn The Skills Corp. in the EDPA if anyone cares). Not surprisingly, my name was not mentioned in The Game, even though Neil saw fit to include my "pivot" concept (from my copyrighted book "29 Reasons Not To Be A Nice Guy") on page 445 of his glossary. While I find it thrilling that my idea was worthy of inclusion in a bestseller, I couldn't help but think that a proper attribution would have been even more thrilling. I'm sure that Neil's friends profiting indirectly from this omission had absolutely nothing to do with it, just like I'm sure that his business relationship with Thundercat (who ranked him #1 among the PUAs and who now markets his "annihilation method" seminar that indicates he's not as done with the game as he lets on) had nothing to do with his ranking.
Since the publication of The Game, I have been working on a number of "postgame" methods of seduction that are highly effective. These methods, mostly "antiplayer," involve leaving a woman with two choices: admit she's like "those women" in the book (like "Goca"), or proving that she's not...by dating me. These days, I'll ask a woman out on a formal date almost to taunt her, as if to say "this is the chance women say they want me to give them, and it's the only one they'll get." This is the "challenge fox" routine, where a woman treats a man right only after she learns he has game, which is why Lisa (Neil's girlfriend) seemed to want him (unless his money, fame, and the free rent she gets in his LA mansion didn't do it).
I've decided, at least for now, not to share most of my new theory, because I really don't need to have it appear in a bestseller five years from now, and have that audience going "where was this information five years ago?" like they did with this. For men who wonder where this knowledge was for all these years, they can thank "big media" for taking forever to brand it, and they can thank themselves for marginalizing internet writers as amateurs while shelling out $25 a copy to authors who rehash our material years later as if it were "hip" and "fresh" when in reality they are like people who bought the NASDAQ in March 2000. Was it any accident that the NASDAQ peaked on the day that Bradshaw, the wrestler, was on CNBC giving investment advice? There's an old saying on Wall Street that when your cabdriver starts giving you stock tips, it's time to sell. Applied to seduction, when every chump you know of talks about having "game" then you can be sure women are changing the rules, and you can be equally sure that in 2023 or so, a book will come out about how things have finally changed, and that it will sell to an audience that will wonder where this "new" information was 17 years ago (internet writers don't count, after all, unless the media wants them to).
Amazingly, Neil's research into this book didn't yield him the internet posting that is well-known to the "community" from a famous guru who admitted to raping a woman by threatening to kill her and her family if she refused to have sex with him; in the book he's portrayed as just a regular guy. One well-known seduction blog actually discussed this posting for about a month, so you may find it on the web. He also didn't make much mention of a lot of the more serious infighting in the "community," a lot of which led to my lawsuit, and he minimized the massive cross-promotion designed to increase overall revenues and decrease dissent (most every place he posted to or cited in his book are message boards with "moderators" who can censor content, and who get paid up to 50 percent of the gross sales of products advertised on the blog or message board). The public that might question these practices is the same public that falls for them, and to that extent they have a lot in common with the "Gocas" of the world. Goca (from the book) would no doubt say that the methods wouldn't work on her, either.
As for the book, it definitely had to be written, but the big story isn't the book, but how the book came to be: women refused to ever believe that men could "decode" them, as one reviewer put it, and when a rich and famous man like Neil writes a book through a major publisher, they can't dismiss him as a "bitter loser who can't get laid." (if getting laid makes a man a winner, then cheaters are the winners of this game). They can't stay silent, because they know that men are being influenced by the book, but they also can't admit that the methods work on them or even other women, because doing so is telling a man to stop being the AFC that they love to exploit. To this extent, it is like the end of slavery for slaveowners, in that women will never again be able to keep the upper hand that they have. Either they have to have sex with AFCs, men that have been repulsing them, or they have to admit that they want the PUAs, which will just cause more nice guys to stop being nice. The days they could placate the nice guys by saying they'll find that ideal woman, someday, are fading fast.
Since I was one of if not THE first internet "seduction gurus" who did not already have a presence in the mainstream media when I wrote my first book in 1998 (Ross Jeffries had been advertising in adult magazines for years even before he hit the internet), and since my business model has been copied by at least 100 other gurus, I feel entitled to say I was ahead of the pack then. I look now at the community members saying that the game has to evolve and that new methods have to be designed, yet I don't see much more than talk. Then I look at the theory I've been developing over the last few years in anticipation of mainstream exposure, and am pleased because once again I have ideas that work for me, and which the public cannot touch because I won't release it to them. Then I look at the marketplace, the readers, the big publishers including my older ideas in their "new" books, and think yes, it's time to keep this to myself until I get proper credit for things like the pivot (note how brainless that method is to use compared to the complex stuff), and until I make Neil's level of money for revealing the new theory.
For those who can figure out a few key things, Neil's book is the AFC's best friend. I will reveal two key bits of my new theory here, not because I want to help men, but because I want to accelerate the process by which women change. These are just the tip of the iceberg, enough to let you know what you're missing by waiting for the big publishers to trickle down the theory to you. These methods WILL get you laid if you're a guy, so pay attention:
1. The "guru gimmick." Simple method: you and your wing go to a coffeehouse, college cafeteria, or anywhere that there are likely to be HBs (hot babes) in sight who can overhear you. You then conduct a "workshop" where you and your wing play instructor and student, and use "The Game" as your "course material." In the course of teaching, you will both say things that are highly offensive to "women," and the women within earshot will interject if you do it right. Once they do that, they've grabbed the bait, and you can dismiss everything they say as them just trying to keep up appearances, and the endgame will have them either proving you wrong by having sex with you, or proving you right by not. A classic double-bind that has them wanting to "save" the nice guy from the "evil player teacher."
2. "Why the heck should I tip you?" I have had GREAT success with this. Take $10-20 into a strip club, bring a copy of "The Game" with you, and just leave it on the bar as you watch the games on TV and ignore the dancers. When they come to you, don't tip them, but instead show them the book and say "this book says I shouldn't tip strippers. I'm beginning to think the author is right." The stripper can't really tell you to bug off, because that would hurt her customer base (especially if she knows this is an internet-based movement of more than you), plus she's not being tipped so this won't cost you a cent. From there, you can lead into a discussion about how strippers don't respect their customers, call them losers behind their backs, and if they're going to have sex with other customers, then you can get rejection for free (or ask her to do the math after telling her that your odds of having sex with her are better if you don't tip her). As long as you hold the frame of the wised-up FORMER customer, they can't win. Usually you'll be able to get a number or e-mail, but even if you don't, you keep your money and leave them wondering how many other men are like this.
These are basic concepts; the actual game involving these two methods is much more complex. However, when my stuff from 1998 is quoted in a bestselling book that promotes my competitors, I see no reason to continue to give away the store, especially when doing so will reduce the effectiveness of the methods.
Finally, there is the rather disturbing reality that men need to confront that has someone like Mystery so desired by women, or men paying him $2,000 a weekend to learn how to attract from a man who says women want "survival and replication resources." That may be true, but where does Mystery get his from? That's like teaching people how to get rich by selling how-to-get-rich material. What Mystery SAYS is to create an identity; what he DOES is create the identity of a man who gets rich teaching "loser guys" how to get laid. I call this the "guru gimmick" as above, and one need not be a guru to implement it (he only has to convince his target that he is).
That women would prefer a guy like Mystery to the typical AFC is definitely disturbing, to the point where I wouldn't talk to a woman who even talked to a guy like him. I'll call the reader's attention to some key quotes from "The Game":
On page 4 of "The Game," Neil Strauss comments on trying to help Mystery, who was in the depths of a suicidal depression. He talks about how he tried to find some drugs (such as Xanax) to help him, and stated: "I needed to get him Valium, Xanax, Vicodin, anything. I grabbed my phone book and scanned the pages for the people most likely to have pills -- people like guys in rock bands, women who had just had plastic surgery, former child actors."
Also on page 4, Neil then describes how he finally turned to Katya, the reason Mystery was so depressed, and when she showed up to help (with drugs), he wrote that he told her not to come into the house because Mystery "would probably KILL her." Then he added: "Not that she didn't entirely deserve it."
On page 5 of "The Game," Neil Strauss quotes Mystery as saying "I want to learn martial arts, so when I want to kill someone, I can do something about it."
On page 188 of "The Game," Neil writes about how Mystery and Neil were at Mystery's sister's condo (a place he didn't even live), and some girls who were there ran into the hallway, making loud noises. A man dressed as a cleric (reverend) came out into the hallway and told them they shouldn't be making so much noise. Neil then notes their exchange:
MYSTERY: "What do you think we should do about it? These are young girls. They're just having fun."
REVEREND: "Well, they can have fun in a place where they're not disturbing other residents."
MYSTERY: "I'll tell you what. I'm going to go get a KNIFE and find out just who exactly should be in the hall when I get back."
Style then related what Mystery told him in an e-mail: "She proceeded to punch me several times. I had ro restrain her by grabbing her throat and flipping her to the ground."
On page 189, Style speaks about why Mystery felt so "suicidal." "Living, he said, costs too much." He then closed by saying <snicker> that he "doesn't want to be known as another Ross Jeffries." (!!!!)
On page 200, Style quotes Mystery as saying he's "going to shoot [his] father and then kill [himself]."
On page 294, Style describes Mystery's reaction to his ex-girlfriend being impregnated by an African-American jock she had met at her strip club: "It makes me want to kill the baby and kill him."
On page 381, Style recounts an e-mail exchange between various house members. Herbal (who swiped Katya from Mystery) wrote to say that he'd been informed that his property and room were "destroyed" as "punishment" from Mystery for allowing Katya into the house. In response, Mystery wrote an e-mail which warned Herbal "not to bring up the subject of Katya," and that if he did, "it would arouse [his] anger so deeply that [Herbal] will be thrown through glass." He said that if Katya "comes around when [Herbal] returns, [Mystery] will pound [Herbal]. It will be fast, hard, repetitive, and merciless."
Neil's declaring victory two short years after joining "the game" only underscores his experience. Does he really think that an LTR with a fame-hungry musician who latched onto Courtney Love and who participates in his fame and seminars (she helps out the guys or has been said to) is going to undo all that he uncovered along the way to finding her? Does she pay half the rent in that mansion?
The question isn't what worked in the past, before all the public learned of these methods, but what will work tomorrow. I already know what will work tomorrow because it's working for me today. Does Neil? Do the rest of them? Will the public ever wake up enough to think for itself so that the next wave of theory isn't force-fed to them by a "major publisher" almost ten years after it was created, when they could have found it on the internet all this time? One woman in this review section said she wished a book for women was out there; I wrote one in 2004 called "Why Hotties Choose Losers" and put it up for free on the web. I suspect, however, that she will wait for another major publisher and famous author to tell her the same things years down the road and wonder why she couldn't get the information sooner, yet she may be like the masses who also dismiss anything that doesn't come from a major publisher.
To those who say I sound annoyed or bitter, I'm more bemused, and very thankful that this book has burst the seduction bubble, because now the masses are once again clueless. So many men using the same few tactics will have women completely immune to them within a few years, and will have the men once again searching for answers. Years ago, I gave those answers on faith, in response to people who said I'd be properly rewarded for them. This time I won't be so trusting, so the community is going to have to find a new brain to supply its information, or at least not "forget" to include my innovations when mentioning who came up with what.
Ray Gordon
Summary of The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists
Hidden somewhere, in nearly every major city in the world, is an underground seduction lair. And in these lairs, men trade the most devastatingly effective techniques ever invented to charm women. This is not fiction. These men really exist. They live together in houses known as Projects. And Neil Strauss, the bestselling author, spent two years living among them, using the pseudonym Style to protect his real-life identity. The result is one of the most explosive and controversial books of the year -- guaranteed to change the lives of men and transform the way women understand the opposite sex forever.
On his journey from AFC (average frustrated chump) to PUA (pick-up artist) to PUG (pick-up guru), Strauss not only shares scores of original seduction techniques but also has unforgettable encounters with the likes of Tom Cruise, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Heidi Fleiss, and Courtney Love. And then things really start to get strange -- and passions lead to betrayals lead to violence. The Game is the story of one man's transformation from frog to prince -- to prisoner in the most unforgettable book of the year.
Are you just another AFC ("average frustrated chump") trying to meet an HB ("hot babe")? How would you like to "full-close" with a Penthouse Pet of the Year? The answers, my friend, are in Neil Strauss's entertaining book The Game. Strauss was a self-described chick repellant--complete with large, bumpy nose, small, beady eyes, glasses, balding head, and, worst of all, painful shyness around women. He felt like "half a man." That is, until a book editor asked him to investigate the community of pickup artists. Strauss's life was transformed. He spent two years bedding some fine chiquitas and studying with some of the North America's most suave gents--including the best of them all, the God of the pickup "community," a man named Mystery.
Mystery is an aspiring Toronto magician who charges $2,250 for a weekend pickup workshop. He is not much to look at: a cross between a vampire and a computer geek. But by using high-powered marketing techniques he's turned seduction into an effortless craft--even inventing his own vocabulary. His technique sounds like a car salesman's tip sheet: his main rule is FMAC--find, meet, attract, close. He employs the "three-second rule"--always approach a woman within three seconds of first seeing her in order to avoid getting shy. Other tricks: Intrigue a beautiful woman by pretending to be unaffected by her charm; also, never hit on a woman right away. Start with a disarming, innocent remark, like "Do you think magic spells work?" or "Oh my god, did you see those two girls fighting outside?" And finally, the most important characteristic of the pickup artist--smile.
After two years, Strauss ends up becoming almost as successful as Mystery, but he comes to an important realization. His techniques were actually off-putting to the woman he ended up falling in love with. And they never prepared him for actually having a relationship. After a while, he ran out of one-liners and had to have a real conversation. Still, The Game is a great read that may help some AFCs come out of their shells. --Alex Roslin
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