The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists
| The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists | |
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 Cover |
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| Author(s) | Neil Strauss |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | ReganBooks |
| Publication date | September 2005 |
| Pages | 452 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-06-055473-8 |
| OCLC Number | 61464341 |
| Dewey Decimal | 973.7/447092 22 |
| LC Classification | HV6584 .S77 2005 |
| Followed by | Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life |
The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pick-up Artists (Also known as The game. Undercover in the Secret Society of Pickup Artists) is a non-fictional book written by investigative reporter Neil Strauss as a chronicle of his journey and encounters in the seduction community.
The book was featured on the New York Times Bestseller List for two months after its release in September 2005, reaching prominence again in 2007 during the broadcast of the VH1 television series The Pick-Up Artist. In its original published hardcover format, the book was covered in black leather and bookmarked with red satin, similar to some printings of the Bible. Despite the reputation that The Game has gained as an exposé on the Seduction Community, it was primarily written as an autobiographical work.
Contents |
[edit] Summary
Strauss stumbles across the community while working on an article.[1] Intrigued by the subculture, he starts participating in the online discussion groups, mainly out of his own frustration with his romantic life. As he becomes more and more involved in the romantic community, Strauss attends a "Bootcamp" conducted by Mystery. The bootcamp consists of Strauss and other participants approaching women and then Mystery and his counterpart Sin giving them corrective advice on their behaviors, body language, and what to say.
The book then narrates the journey of how Strauss goes through the various stages of becoming a Pick-up artist, description about the various members of the community and how Strauss befriends many of the members, particularly Mystery. A good deal of the book focuses on how to obtain the elusive upper hand, or just hand, in a relationship. He also narrates his success, the spreading of the romantic community itself and his life at "Project Hollywood", a high end mansion and a lifestyle plan shared by Strauss, Mystery, Playboy, Papa, Tyler Durden, Herbal, and other members of the seduction community, and how rivalries and animosity between various members of the community lead to "Project Hollywood's" collapse. The book also documents the start of Real Social Dynamics with Tyler Durden and Papa.
The book also narrates Strauss' experiments with sleeping habits, personal grooming and his meetings with celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Courtney Love and Britney Spears...
[edit] Reception
Neil Strauss was quoted in a review in The Guardian as saying "A side effect of sarging is that it can lower one's opinion of the opposite sex", though the reviewer noted that "And yet, as he has described it, the inverse is true: a low opinion of the opposite sex is a prerequisite for sarging".[2] Strauss was also quote as saying "The point was women; the result was men. Instead of models in bikinis lounging by the Project Hollywood pool all day, we had pimply teenagers, bespectacled businessmen, tubby students, lonely millionaires, struggling actors, frustrated taxi drivers, and computer programmers - lots of computer programmers".[2] The reviewer remarked that "The sell is that, with the special techniques they learn from Mystery and other gurus, the ubergeeky can often give a convincing simulation of being a regular human being, even if, like one sarger in this book, they are in fact near-sociopaths".[2]
Another reviewer in The Observer wrote "Some of the recommended techniques are sinister. One involves discreetly undermining a woman's self-esteem by paying her a backhanded compliment in the hope that she will hang around to seek your approval. This manoeuvre has its own name: 'the Neg'".[3]
Malcolm Knox wrote "I doubt he has anything helpful for anyone except those men whose emotional maturity stalled at age 15".[4] He also wrote "If the reader is too far ahead of the author, a book has a problem. On page 406, Mystery's mother says his problems are caused by his low self-esteem. Strauss reflects: "Only a mother could reduce a person's entire ambition and raison d'etre to the one basic insecurity fuelling it all." No. It's taken 406 pages for Strauss to realise what most readers will have got by page 10".[4] He notes the failure of "Project Hollywood" and that the book doesn't recognise the role of women in selecting partners.[4] He also writes "The other false advertisement is that Strauss has "penetrated" a "secret society" of geeks-turned-gurus including Mystery, his rival Ross Jeffries and renegade PUA teachers nicknamed Papa and Tyler Durden. Yet when Strauss writes about them in The New York Times, they're thrilled".[4]
Alexandra Jacobs wrote that he switched awkwardly between misogynistic comments and feeble attempts at self-awareness.[5] She also notes that "But he does come to perceive one curious thing about the P.U.A.'s: They seem far more interested in spending time with fellow P.U.A.'s, amassing, refining and discussing the game, than actually getting to know women. Call them S.L.B.'s (scared little boys)".[5]
[edit] Other works
A companion to The Game, called Rules of the Game by Neil Strauss, containing two parts, The Stylelife Challenge and The Style Diaries, was released on December 18, 2007.
Sony optioned the rights to make the book into a film, and comedy director Chris Weitz signed on to helm the project for Columbia Pictures.[6][7] Spyglass Entertainment has since obtained the rights to the film, with screenwriter Dan Weiss adapting the book into a screenplay.[8]
[edit] In Popular Culture
Since the book’s release, visual and written references, including satires and parodies, have shown up in popular culture media.
The following are a few examples:
Criminal Minds - In one episode, investigators chase after a man who is seducing and murdering women after taking a pick-up workshop with an expert named “Raven.”
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – The character of Dennis Reynolds creates “The D.E.N.N.I.S System” to teach others his systemic approach to being a playboy.
Family Guy – The character of Glenn Quagmire teaches a class on how to “bring out your inner studs.”
CSI:_Miami - An evil pickup artist advises “work the game, drop your negs,” in an episode.
Wainy Days - In "The Pickup", Paul Rudd portrays a pickup artist named Alias.
The Mentalist – In the episode Crimson Casanova, an investigation involves a pick-up artist named Paul who divulges some of his techniques.
Parks and Recreation - The character of Tom Haverford tries “peacocking”.
The Closer – A man named “Intrigue” is famous for his method on picking up women.
Jake & Amir - The co-workers practice techniques to pick up women.
Big Bang Theory - The character of Howard decides to try peacocking and negs, and strikes out in one episode.
The Venture Bros. – Pick up artist terms such as “kino escalation” and “isolate your target” are used in one episode.
The Simpsons - A “Dr. Kissingher” character gives a seminar on how to pick up women.
Castle - The episode "Till Death Do Us Part" involves pickup artists with routines similar to those described in "The Game."
[edit] See also
- Seduction Community
- Love-shyness
- Pickup artist
- Introvert
- The Rules: Time-Tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right
- Rules of the Game, a followup book
[edit] References
- ^ Strauss, Neil (January 25, 2004). "He Aims! He Shoots! Yes!!". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 12, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5ydDj9R8U. Retrieved May 12, 2011.
- ^ a b c Poole, Steven (22 October 2005). "Sad sack artists". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/oct/22/highereducation.news1. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ Behr, Rafael (25 September 2005). "Girls, if you see this man, run a mile". The Observer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/sep/25/biography.society?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ a b c d Knox, Malcolm (22 October 2005). "The Game". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/book-reviews/the-game/2005/10/20/1129401350258.html. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ a b Jacobs, Alexandra (11 September 2005). "'The Game': Come Here Often?". http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/books/review/11jacobs.html. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
- ^ Weinberg, Scott (February 24, 2006). "Chris Weitz Getting Into the "Game"". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/news/1646393/chris_weitz_getting_into_the_andquotgameandquot. Retrieved May 12, 2011.
- ^ George, Lianne (September 2, 2005). "Lady killers". Maclean's. Archived from the original on May 12, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5ydF8uLWO. Retrieved May 12, 2011.
- ^ Garrett, Diane (August 22, 2007). "Spyglass nabs 'The Game' rights". Variety. Archived from the original on May 12, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5ydF9ENUB. Retrieved May 12, 2011.
