The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.
Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (June 2008)

The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists
Cover
Author	Neil Strauss
Country	United States
Language	English
Publisher	ReganBooks
Publication date	September 2005
Pages	452 pp
ISBN	ISBN 0-06-055473-8
OCLC	61464341

The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pick-up Artists is a book of non-fiction which was among the first to expose the seduction community to the mainstream public.^{[citation needed]} It was written by investigative reporter Neil Strauss as a chronicle of his journey from "average frustrated chump" to "master pickup artist" using techniques devised by a network of men frustrated by their incompetence in sexual seduction.

In the book, he adopts the pseudonym Style and details encounters with women as he studies with experts at seducing women. The book's publication began an explosion of pick-up artist jargon^{[citation needed]} and reveals inside events in the rapidly-growing Mystery Method company of 2004.

The book was an instant success on the internet^{[citation needed]} and 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 hit series, VH1's The Pick-Up Artist.^{[citation needed]}

In its original published hardcover format, the book was covered in black leather and bookmarked with red satin, similar to some printings of the Christian Bible. Following its release, The Game was portrayed on televised news programs as a "bible" of pick-up arts, which may also reflect the intensity with which some readers study it. In mainstream media, it has been portrayed as a how-to book, although it is intended to be more autobiographical.

1 Plot
2 Successes
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Plot

The book is narrated by protagonist Neil Strauss with emphasis on the personal transformation he undergoes to become an influential member of the seduction community. The dominant theme throughout the book is the doctrine of "the Venusian Arts" as taught to Neil by the Community. Although several wide-ranging beliefs and ideals for the perfect seducer are presented, Strauss takes after Mystery and his Mystery Method company with great faith, providing what could be considered a literary endorsement for him. The book was received during a time of intense media spotlight for the seduction community, and it serves as an historical record of its early development in the United States from a secretive Internet group to a cult-like sensation.

[edit] An "Average frustrated chump"

Neil adds inner conflict to the book, that of a "rite of passage" to becoming not only an attractive, promiscuous man, but of achieving greater self-confidence.

He describes his intellectualism as a source of professional success but persistent sexlessness. To add insult to injury, his job brings him to the homes of Hugh Hefner, Tommy Lee, and Marilyn Manson as a writer. He could not comprehend what made each man so attractive to women; he suggests that their uncanny success was from innate forces beyond control; he resigns in frustration that he will never live that same lifestyle.

[edit] Neil meets the Community

By chance Neil is ordered to write a news article on a popular online document called the Layguide. Immediately after reading the book, Neil is stunned and searches eagerly for more information on the study of male-to-female seduction. Spending months absorbing the lingo and literature online, he discovers a course offered in Los Angelos by instructor Mystery.

Mystery, a tall charismatic magician, is the most respected in the Community for his tried techniques (termed the Mystery Method), which he posts online. Through popular demand on the Internet, he begins travelling workshops to personally coach men who struggle to attract women. At his first class, he teaches Neil and two other students an entirely new approach to women; they adopt canned lines, ways to dress, and develop more confident, sociable personalities.

Style learns, in his interaction with Mystery, to actively show disinterest in a female while revealing her attraction. Postponing male-to-female interest, he learns, allows the pickup artist to reverse normally-accepted gender roles in social interaction.

[edit] The christening of "Style"

Neil quickly becomes a good friend of Mystery's and accompanies him during workshops. Under Mystery's advice, Neil renames himself Style, a pseudonym symbolic of his induction as a pick-up artist; in addition, he received orders to shave his hair and have corrective eye surgery. Style follows suit, but formulates a less than wholesome view of Mystery.

As they pursue Slavic women in the Balkans, Mystery becomes irritable. A lack of attention made him frustrated, causing a fit in the car. Sobbing hysterically, Mystery levels accusations that his father was both verbally and physically abusive. This, teamed with emotional distance from his mother, he claims, left him love-starved and unfulfilled as a child.

Style abhors Mystery's cries for attention and takes time to investigate the plethora of techniques and methods available from other gurus. He meets with David DeAngelo, Ross Jeffries, and many notables throughout the book, incorporating their ideas selectively in himself.

[edit] Project Hollywood

Style joins the Community as a full-fledged member, working with Mystery's company, the Mystery Method. He teaches workshops and becomes a proficient star at every club, bar, and strip club he enters. He feels enlightened and content as a pickup artist. At the same time, Mystery has a depressive episode and requires hospitalization.

As the new leader, Style watches the Community expand rapidly from the Internet and word-of-mouth at college campuses. He is inspired by an interview with Tom Cruise, convinced that the Mystery Method, like Scientology, could become a Hollywood hit. Style launches Project Hollywood, a cult-like subculture in Hollywood, California. With the rehabilitated Mystery, he and the group rent a mansion there and gain fame dating the hottest celebrities in the city.

The "pickup mansion" was never meant to be; starting as an intimate union, the group soon went their own ways. As Style describes, between graphic sexual descriptions, members had an ongoing power struggle between competing companies in the house (Real Social Dynamics and Mystery Method). A 'growing conspiracy' slowly removes Mystery from the house; when his girlfriend cheats on him with one of his best friends, he sinks into a bout of depression. The group decides to kick him out of the house, effectively removing the Mystery Method Company.

The Community as a whole reaches a peak in popularity and Mystery becomes a decorated speaker on several media outlets during early 2005.

Style is left dispirited after Mystery leaves, disappointed at what could have been. He leaves the mansion now run exclusively by Real Social Dynamics. The anticipated "cultural revolution" he and Mystery hoped to achieve now existed as ramified groups across the country, each run by former students.

[edit] Successes

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.^[1]^[2]^[3] Spyglass Entertainment has since obtained the rights to the film, with screenwriter Dan Weiss adapting the book into a screenplay.^[4]