The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists

Compelling Underground Memoir

This is a fascinating journey by an author with marginal skills with the ladies (despite fame), who sets out on a life changing mission to master picking up women using the Mystery Method. The characters are philanderers, gigolos, wannabes, braggarts, and every dysfunctional category in between. Their quest is obvious, and thrust in your face; to sleep with as many beautiful women as possible. The author Strauss has written several best sellers, as well as for Rolling Stone, and literally has no competition when it comes to spinning tales of this type.

The other thought provoking mindbender that catapults your hooking up skills is The Professional Bachelor Dating Guide - How to Exploit Her Inner Psycho.

This is a devious sexual persuasion guide for hooking up, written by a psych doc who cruised the nightclubs with great success for a decade. It also contains an asset protection guide to set up pre-marriage to shield you from divorce.

Get these three, and get ready to laugh and learn. Really interesting books.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Good read.

The Game is more of a memorie than a how to guide. The author joins a PUA club led my Mystery and becomes addicted to the lifestyle. It was a good read in that it describes what really goes on in situations like these.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

The game.

This was an intersting read for me. It's about these pick up artists and sort of a memoir. I liked the writer's voice and found it personable but not grating. The book for me wasn't so much about the advice as it was reading how these guys operate.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Amazing story

The mystery method in action. The Game is one of the most fascinating tales I've ever read. Neil sets out to study the pick up artistry like a socialogist to improve his own skills with women. Along the way, he spends two years inside the community, transforms himself, and ends up with yet another bestseller accidentally during the process. Read the whole book in one sitting. Highly recommended.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Hate the game not the player

The book overall i thought was great. I like the description "style" would go into. I recommond this book for all men because it is just interesting what these men do to the women in this book. I like how they discribe there game plans the pick up rules of what their going to do next. If you dont like playing games with girls than dont get this book! its not for you! I didnt have many dislikes about the book occasionally there would be people in it that shouldnt because they were a waste of paper and did nothing. I think Neil Strauss is an excellent writer. I am looking into more books he has writen, if you like this book i would check out I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell. A breif discription would be a man goes around the world with many different pick up artist and he uses all there techniques to be a successful womanizer.

Not a How-To book, but a great, entertaining read

There's a good chance I wouldn't have believed some of the extreme claims made in this book if I hadn't seen VH1's reality show, The Pickup Artist, first. Whether you believe it or not, Neil Strauss' The Game is a fun and hilarious book that will suck you in and keep you reading until you hit the back cover.

The gist of the book is as follows: Neil Strauss is asked by an editor to investigate the underground PUA (pick-up artist) community. Like most people, Strauss doubted that he would find anything legitimate, but decided to look into the assignment, partly out of self-interest. After learning some PUA techniques from Mystery, creator of the Mystery Method of seduction and perhaps the greatest PUA, and finding some success, Strauss takes on the alias "Style" and totally immerses himself in the lifestyle. Style uses the skills honed by years of writing and journalism to study the many schools of seduction and eventually emerges as one of the world's greatest pick-up artists, rivaling and perhaps even surpassing Mystery.

Strauss packs in plenty of hilarious details about the encounters of various PUA's in many different situations, various episodes concerning Mystery and his emotional and mental disturbances, and the events leading up to the collapse of Mystery's ambitious Project Hollywood. Most importantly, Strauss provides his own insightful commentary on all the things the PUA community has completely wrong, namely the misogynistic tendencies of many PUA's, the lack of originality and individual thought amongst PUA's and the complete absence of any "techniques" for staying in healthy, long-term relationships.

Despite Mystery's self-defeating personality, the lawlessness of Project Hollywood and having a large number of PUA's turn against him, Style manages to keep his head on straight and even lands himself the girl of his dreams-without using any seduction techniques (they have quite the opposite effect, actually)!

Even if you don't believe in the powers of the pick-up artist, this book is worth checking out if only for Strauss' wonderful story of developing confidence in himself and finding happiness. And if you do think there is something to this seduction thing, then this book is a good starting point for learning some things and how to not let yourself get carried away.

[Disclosure: This review also appears on FingerFlow.com, a site for review and discussion of creative works.]

This Book review is written about The Game, which was written by Neil Strauss

When looking for a book to read, I was trying to find something out of the ordinary, and that's exactly what I got with the book The Game. This book, it even says on the cover, is about the ways of the secret society of pickup artists. It shows you a completely different way of thinking and looking at the opposite sex if you are a male. If you are a woman, it might show you how guys think sometimes and why we are thinking what we do. The book is a selftold story, about a lonely, lost, nobody, that wanted to become someone in the eyes of the opposite sex. In persuing this goal, he had extreme and crazy adventures. On his journey to becoming one of the greatest pickup artists known around the country, he learned much from other previous artists that he paid to follow around and be taught they ways of the game. When he finally picks up his first girl and takes her back to his house, that's when he has found what he was trying to become. This is esentially the crux of the book, because he has figured out how to minipulate the mind of a woman to be drawn toward him. He had soonafter become one of the best pickup artists known to man. He also learned that this wasn't just something you did every other weekend, but almost every day. It consumed most if not all of your normal everyday life. Playing in the game for too long, will mess with your head, and make you crazy. It has consumed and destroyed people's lifes. The major message of the book is to enjoy life and be happy with what you have. And if you are not happy with what you have, you can always change, and become something or someone else. I liked this book a lot, because it showed how someone with nothing, could potentially have everything. It makes someone out of noone. I think that there are some guys that should read this to know what some guys are all about, or what they could be. I feel that girls will either be offended or informed about the way guys think or what they do to try to be with a girl. Overall, I don't read very often, and this book drew me in and kept my interest. I loved it and thought it was great. I would give it a 9 out of 10 rating. I don't know many books that would be like this one, but if i had to choose one that you might like to read similar to this book, it would be, I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell. I personally haven't read this book, but I have heard about it a little bit, and it has it's similarities.

The Game

Are you an AFC (average frustrated chump) trying to meet the girl of your dreams? How would you like to get with the Penthouse Pet of the Year? Neil Strauss's book The Game, can help you achieve these dreams. Strauss in the beginning is described as a chump who has absolutely no game with girls, rather ugly looking fellow, and just down right weird. He felt like "half a man." Until a book editor asked him to investigate the community of pickup artists. He spent two years picking up some of the finest ladies and studying with some of the North America's greatest PUAs (pick up artists) including the best of them all, the God of the pickup "community," a man named Mystery.
Mystery is a Toronto magician who charges $2,250 for a weekend pickup workshop. He is a really goofy looking guy, more of a gothic than a stud. But by using special techniques he turned seduction into an every night thing of ease, he even inventing his own vocabulary. His main rule is FMAC: find, meet, attract, close. He encourages the "three-second rule", always approach a woman within three seconds of first seeing her in order to avoid getting shy. According the Mystery the most important characteristic of the pickup artist is to smile.
After two years, Neil Strauss a.k.a (Style) ends up becoming almost as successful as Mystery. His techniques were a combination from all the best PUAs. Style was so good he had girls falling in love with him after only meeting him for a few hours. The Game is a great read that may help some AFCs come out of their shells.

Tips to meet women

This book starts out as a guide to pick up women then turns into a soap opera. The first half of the book introduces the reader to quite a few of the best pick up artists and some of their tricks for meeting and picking up women. Some of their methods have potential, while others are a little out there. The second half of the book gets into drama and the pitfalls of the community of pickup artists. It is a great read if you are looking for ideas and advice. In the end, it is not about using pickup lines, but more about just starting conversation.

Wowza

About a year ago...I was told to pick up this book by a dear friend of mine. He said...This stuff will help you out ALOT. My friend had seen me...in my ways....and he realized that I needed this stuff. I took him up on his word...and I have been using this stuff all the time...I also picked up a body language book too...both have helped me tremendously...I never knew that human nature worked like this.

Opens new doors

I was recommened to read this book about a year ago by a bunch of friends. After alot of debate I got it and it opened my mind. I never know such an underground society of PUA's. Now i'm reading other books and stuff learning more about this PUA stuff. It's really facinating. A fun read by a good author. At the same time don't take everything to literally it's just a fun book.

Great book

This is the great book for those people who are shy or want to improve there game. A lot of people do use this to fine that 1 someone they wanted in a long time but on the dark side peolpe just use it to get different girls in bed with them. so i still say the both ways you go is good its all up to you. theres a lot of people doin this and theres like world wide workshops to you guys can go to.

Pretty Good Book But..

Like:
I loved this book. I read the whole thing in less than a week. When you start reading it is hard to put down. It talks about Neil Strauss' adventure from loser to PUA (Pick Up Artist). While at the same time giving you insight on the tactics used to pick up women. This book is beautifully written and i also liked/got a laugh out of how it is fashioned like a bible (printed on thin paper and has a built in bookmark string).

Dislike:
I don't like how the Mystery Method is full of gimmicks and stuff..not to say it doesn't work but i just like more natural type of game. this is the ONLY reason i didn't give it 5 stars..

Also check out Neil's new book "Emergency This Book Could Save your life",haven't read it yet but looks really interesting..and Neil is a great writer



I recommended a few other books at the bottom

Inspiring

This account of the exploits of Pick up Artists is not only entertaining but it inspired me to become a more desireable specimen for the opposite sex. This resulted in my current happy relationship with the woman of my dreams.

Didn't like this book.

I didn't like this 'bible' on how to bed women. Too long...I got it after the first 100 pages. Not the subject manner I am interested in reading about.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Spot on!

The Game is one of those book that you wonder if it will hold up to its reputation once you read it. Well, it does. It holds up very well and Mr. Strauss takes us into the secret society of pick up artists. From there, we learn how they do, so we can decide for ourselves if we want to do it too. It's about picking up women and also about bonding, I found.

NOT WHAT YOU MAY THINK

Okay, seriously. Enough with the hate. When will people wake up and realize that this is a story, not a guidebook? I found out about this book from a couple of friends, and they were all 'hey man, this totally works!!' So, I picked it up and started reading. Holy cow, was I in for a surprise. This is not about objectifying women or teaching others how to pick up chicks. It is simply a story about forming relationships and realizing what is truly important in your life. Hats off to a well-written book.

Book Review-The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pick Up Artists

I just finished reading one of the most amazing I have read in recent memory, Neil Strauss¿s The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society Of Pick Up Artists. I have never been compelled to write a book review, but this book really took me on a journey through his development from, AFC (Average Frustrated Chump) one of the many acronyms used in the book as pick up slang, to mPUA, (Master Pick Up Artist). The book is so engaging and tangible because of its everyman appeal. The protagonist in the story, Neil Strauss, who later becomes Style, is easily substituted as the reader, particularly if the reader is male. I found myself so engrossed in the story that I was taking every step and going over routine in my head as Strauss on his journey to become a PUA. The story begins with the protagonist Neil Strauss, a self described nerd, coming across a guide that purports to give men the power to have sex with the women they desired the lay guide. After further inquiry Strauss attends a training held by Mystery, the greatest pick up artist in the world and so begins his adventure. Strauss as Style beds many women along the way, but the true intrigue of the book is the lifestyle change that he undergoes to become Style, mPUA. In Strauss¿s transformation into Style, the reader is able to learn about male/female relations and overall social dynamics in a very new way. This is a very powerful and engaging story in which the reader may learn as much about himself as he does about the protagonist. I recommend this book to the open-minded and those with a love of learning.

WOW!

An extremely fun book. I picked it up at the LAX airport in LA to read on the plane to Chicago, and when I our plane connected in Pheonix I nearly missed my flight home because I was talking to a stranger who happened to be reading it in front of me. After he reasured me the books value, I began to read heavily, finishing it with a smile on my face. The book is a good read which was great conversation amonst friends and I. Niel Strauss is an author I would like to meet. Enjoy this and appreciate it's honesty.

Sex Isn't Happiness

This is a great book precisely for the reasons critics attack it. Yes, Neil Strauss didn't learn anything of real value about women in his journey. Yes, the pua community is angry and resentful toward women. Yes, they use nothing but a bunch of rehearsed lines and 'tricks,' as another reviewer describes them. Why these things make this a bad book to some perplexes me. Where in the book does Neil claim to be an expert? Where does he claim to teach men about women? He doesn't he just tells his story, which is a pretty simple one - guy is unhappy because he sucks with women, he learns to get good by mimicking self-proclaimed pick-up artists and then he finally starts to get laid. Neil is honest and acknowledges that he is still unhappy and still doesn't know anything about women. He and a bunch of the other pua experts end up getting played by one girl. He doesn't dare ask the several women he is dating (they're not dating, they're really just sex buddies and all of the women he meets are shallow future trophy wives) who else they're seeing or what else is going on in their lives becuase 'I was afraid to know.' In the end, the unhappy guy who can't get laid ends up being an unhappy guy who can get laid. I suppose geeks have taken to the story because they think it is better to be unhappy and having sex then to be unhappy and not having sex. I read this book just after reading GOD IS A WOMAN: DATING DISASTERS. I recommend both books the similarities and contrasts are uncanny. Unlike Neil, who I wouldn't classify as a jerk, the author of GOD (formerly inept with women, too) does become a jerk - he does things that make Tucker Max look like a choir boy. He later realizes it and grows, truly learning about women after that and no longer needing any lines or tricks. Thru this, he is able to truly be happy with women and dating (he also offers advice thru his site but it is all free and because of his growth, it is very good and complete advice.) Perhaps if Neil would take one step further and become a jerk, he would one day experience the same revelation and then truly be able to find happiness. It is ironic that it may very well be is unwillingness to truly let go of his former geeky-self (still wanting to be liked and a nice guy) that is keeping him from truly being happy.