Robert Greene (author)

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Robert Greene
Born May 14, 1959
Los Angeles, California
Occupation Author
Influences
Influenced

Robert Greene (born in Los Angeles in May 14, 1959) is a Jewish American author known for his books on strategy, power, sex and seduction. He attended the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he received a degree in classical studies. He has worked in New York City as an editor and writer for several magazines, including Esquire, and in Hollywood as a story developer and writer. He lived for years in London, Paris, and Barcelona. He speaks several languages and has worked as a translator. In 1995 Greene was involved in the planning and creation of the art school Fabrica outside Venice, Italy, where he began a collaboration with the New York book packager and designer Joost Elffers. This partnership resulted in several books.[1]

On July 11, 2006, he officially launched a blog, Power, Seduction and War: The Robert Greene Blog as one of Tucker Max's Rudius Media sites.

Contents

[edit] Works

The 48 Laws of Power is Greene's first work published by Elffers. It is compared to Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince,[2] with the main difference being that the audience is not royalty, but the masses. Among the 48 are laws such as "Law 3: Conceal your intentions" and "Law 15: Crush your enemy totally". His next book The Art of Seduction is similar to 48 Laws in organization and tone but goes more in-depth regarding soft persuasion. It draws on historical characters such as Casanova and Lord Byron and analyzes the methods of seduction. The 33 Strategies of War is a kind of modern version of Sun Tzu's The Art of War, with some of Greene's original additions, relevant in the world of warfare today. His works have sold an estimated 2 million copies worldwide.

Greene is working on a book with 50 Cent called The 50th Law.[3][4]

[edit] Power, Seduction and War

Greene blogs on PowerSeductionandWar.com where he writes about themes from his books and current events. He has criticized the strategy of public figures including Michael Moore,[5] Bill O'Reilly[6] and Vladimir Putin.[7] On the blog, Robert has written about some of his influences, including Machiavelli who he said that he rereads once a year and John Boyd, whose philosophy he felt fit in these "ruthless times."[8]

[edit] In popular culture

Rappers such as Kanye West and Young Buck have both rapped about Greene's tome The 48 Laws of Power, mentioning the title by name. Multi-platinum rapper Busta Rhymes once received a specially engraved cover of the book to help deal with problematic movie producers.[9] These connections eventually led to his collaboration with 50 Cent, another of Robert's 'disciples'.

[edit] See also

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Biographical information taken from The Art of Seduction website.
  2. ^ Review - The 48 Laws of Power
  3. ^ Mirchandani, Raakhee (21, July, 2007). The Merchant of Menace. New York Post. Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
  4. ^ Williams, Ben (21, July, 2007). Influences: 50 Cent The Merchant of Menace. New York Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-08-23.
  5. ^ Greene, Robert (July 15, 2007). Only the Dull and Stupid Fight Head-on: Some Strategic Thoughts. Accessed August 3, 2007.
  6. ^ Greene, Robert (July 15, 2007). Random Thoughts and Salvos. Accessed August 3, 2007.
  7. ^ Greene, Robert (April 23, 2007). Russia and Power. Accessed August 3, 2007.
  8. ^ Greene, Robert (February 24, 2007). OODA Loop and You. Accessed August 3, 2007.
  9. ^ Paumgarten, Nick (6 November, 2006). Fresh Prince. The New Yorker. Retrieved on 2007-08-23.

[edit] External links

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