About this title: Informative inside look at a subculture of men striving to perfect the art of picking up women. They meet in underground "lairs" to discuss tactics and strategies then venture into the "field" to practice. Journalist Neil Strauss travelled around the world meeting these men.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: REGAN BOOKS
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780060554736ISBN:0060554738
Description: New. A bestselling author and journalist offers an intriguing, humorous, and informative inside look at a subculture of men trying to perfect the art of picking up women. read more
Edition: 1st American Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Regan Books / Harper Collins, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780060554736ISBN:0060554738
Description: New. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" 452 pages, 11 steps / chapters, red silk ribbon, golden lettering on the front board and spine cord, golden edges of the content. Black leather bound flexible hard cover. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Full leather
Publisher: ReganBooks
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780060554736ISBN:0060554738
Description: New in new dust jacket. Glued binding. Leather, imitation. 452 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. New condition book in a new condition cover. No marks or wear. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Regan Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780060554736ISBN:0060554738
Description: As New. No Jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" Tall. Deluxe edition Black faux leather, gilt decoration and title. red silk marker In dozens of cities around the world, men meet in underground "lairs" to discuss tactics and strategies for picking up women. Afterwards, they venture into the "field"-bars and clubs-and practice, questing after the holy grail: the perfect girl. Under a pseudonym, New York Times bestselling author Neil Strauss ventured into this bizarre subculture, traveling around the world ... read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Regan Books, New York
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780060554736ISBN:0060554738
Description: As New. 8vo-7¾"-9¾" tall, Deluxe edition. Black faux leather, gilt decoration and titles. All edges gilt, red silk marker. 452 pages, illustrated. No wear or previous owner's marks. read more
"I learned that I am what, in pick up artist ("PUA") parlance, is called a "natural." I've never had problems meeting women. So I didn't pick this book up for its instructional content. Rather, I was intrigued into reading this book by curiosity. I wanted to see how my life experience stacked up with my preconceived notion of a true PUA. I envisioned a PUA as being a highly confident, suave, cool operator that women swoon over without being able to control themselves. I learned that my concept of what the PUA is, prior to reading this book, was wrong. In fact, PUAs are very insecure, needy, but intelligent people that have figured out how to give off the illusion of being confident and interesting, to trick (or some may say "persuade") women into casual, short-term and primarily physical relationships. Yet, they long for the long-term relationships, built on emotional connections, that us "naturals" seek and often maintain, but have mistakenly chosen what they perceive to be the best path to get there- i.e., picking up many women constantly. I'll cease any further substantive review because I don't want to spoil the book for anyone interested in picking it up (pun intended).
But I will add two more comments:
First, viewed in a general sense, the concepts discussed in this book within the context of meeting and successfully "closing" women, can be applied to all other aspects of life. I plan to incorporate them into my practice and use some of them to "pick up" new clients and negotiate and close business deals. Many of the concepts in Strauss' book were restatements of concepts I found in marketing and persuasive psychology books I've read.
Second, the writing is good and it flows well despite Strauss' style of doing the little things that writing instructors and agents caution against- for instance, his frequent use of descriptors that end in "ingly," and switching tenses too often in the same chapter. Some writers can pull this off and still give you a good read. Strauss is one of those writers. It's a page turner."
"A couple friends of mine recommended this book. It's easy reading, mind-candy really, and I finished it in a few hours. However, I don't think it had too much depth.
It's about an online forum group, about how to pickup women, that gained popularity to the point that its prominent members started offering expensive seminars and lectures. The seminars became so popular that some of them banded together to buy a house, share expenses, and operate their businesses out of it. The book tracks the history of these self-proclaimed "pickup artists" and the aftermath of their endeavor.
If you're looking for a book to share the ultimate secrets about how to pick up girls, this isn't it. If you're looking for a book with a lot of sex, this isn't it either. The book does share some basic ideas on how to pick up women, but to be honest, any guy who has approached more than 10 women for a date already knows most of what the book conveys. The book is also about sex, but it's definitely not descriptive.
What I did like about the book was its descent into the minds of the PUA's (pick up artists). I think that Mr. Strauss is at his best when he describes the motivations of his fellow players... illuminating their tragic flaws and the consequences of their methods. I think the book is at it's worst when he indulges in name-dropping... citing stories about "surging" on Britney Spears & Courtney Love.
I'd recommend it as a good summer book but that's about it.
For what it's worth, a friend loaned me the hardcover edition and it is beautiful. Leather cover, pages fringed in gold... except, each chapter has an illustration and the artwork, while nice... doesn't suit the rest of the book, it clashes."
"A fast-paced, very well-penned, fun, intriguing story of social psychology, nobodies becoming superstars, emotional self-destruction, and the birth of the seduction industry. Neil studies the art of the pickup from ground zero, starting under the wing of the famous Mystery, and then hopping from guru to guru, building a name for himself as a master of women while simultaneously reflecting on how absurd, magical, and ultimately destructive the whole thing is.
Oddly enough, this book's narrative arc reminds me of Pirates of Silicon Valley, or reading the story of any number of tech startups. You've got a cast of quirky characters all out on the pioneering edge of an industry, pushing new ideas forward, competing fiercely in a small arena, and going on ridiculous adventures.
I loved the book, and it reads fast. I'd recommend it to everybody; it's not exclusively guy fodder."
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