Produktinformation

• Amazon-Verkaufsrang: #27186 in Bücher
• Veröffentlicht am: 2005-09-01
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2005-09-06
• Originalsprache: Englisch
• Einband: Imitation Leather
• 452 Seiten

Barry Forshaw
Is it for real? Is The Game by Neill Strauss an assiduously detailed, highly entertaining exposé of a fascinating secret society -- the international community of pickup artists who have refined their talents for getting women into bed to the nth degree? Or is it an extremely funny hoax? Early drafts of the book had people wondering, and men in particular speculated if the book would deliver some valuable ‘how to’ tips as an aid to entering a sexual wonderland. In fact, it doesn't really matter whether you take the basic premise seriously or not: Strauss’ wonderfully diverting book delivers great entertainment whatever your point of view.

According to Strauss, the clandestine society of men he describes here take wagers in clubs and bars throughout the Western world over just who can chalk up the most Casanova-like quantities of pickups and seductions. But this isn't merely for the thrill of an army of sexual conquests -- all of this is coded and organised according to an almost military-style ritual, with an elaborate series of rules and regulations that the participants rigorously follow. Strauss went undercover in this glamorous world, and learned the secrets of these top-drawer seducers. But, for him, there was a useful corollary affect: Strauss found himself transformed from a nerdish, unconfident journalist into a silver-tongued Lothario, quite the equal of many of the ladykilling males he had been enjoying the company of. For him, the ultimate accolade was being noted The World's Number One Pickup Artist -- and then he made the mistake of setting his sights on a woman who could give every bit as good as she got.

The world of excess presented here is not one most of us move in, but (if the truth were told) it has its irresistible attractions. Strauss wheels in such celebrities as Tom Cruise and Courtney Love, and this unblushing peek into a secret world where sex and seduction are treated with cool scientific detachment is mesmerisingly readable. --Barry Forshaw

Amazon.com
Are you just another AFC ("average frustrated chump") trying to meet an HB ("hot babe")? How would you like to "full-close" with a Penthouse Pet of the Year? The answers, my friend, are in Neil Strauss's entertaining book The Game. Strauss was a self-described chick repellant--complete with large, bumpy nose, small, beady eyes, glasses, balding head, and, worst of all, painful shyness around women. He felt like "half a man." That is, until a book editor asked him to investigate the community of pickup artists. Strauss's life was transformed. He spent two years bedding some fine chiquitas and studying with some of the North America's most suave gents--including the best of them all, the God of the pickup "community," a man named Mystery.

Mystery is an aspiring Toronto magician who charges $2,250 for a weekend pickup workshop. He is not much to look at: a cross between a vampire and a computer geek. But by using high-powered marketing techniques he's turned seduction into an effortless craft--even inventing his own vocabulary. His technique sounds like a car salesman's tip sheet: his main rule is FMAC--find, meet, attract, close. He employs the "three-second rule"--always approach a woman within three seconds of first seeing her in order to avoid getting shy. Other tricks: Intrigue a beautiful woman by pretending to be unaffected by her charm; also, never hit on a woman right away. Start with a disarming, innocent remark, like "Do you think magic spells work?" or "Oh my god, did you see those two girls fighting outside?" And finally, the most important characteristic of the pickup artist--smile.

After two years, Strauss ends up becoming almost as successful as Mystery, but he comes to an important realization. His techniques were actually off-putting to the woman he ended up falling in love with. And they never prepared him for actually having a relationship. After a while, he ran out of one-liners and had to have a real conversation. Still, The Game is a great read that may help some AFCs come out of their shells. --Alex Roslin

From Publishers Weekly
[Signature]Reviewed by Amy SohnI never dated Neil Strauss, but I dated guys like him. Like many New York women, I have always gone for balding, pale guys because they're grateful and good in bed. But a few years ago, a distraught Strauss decided he was a loser with women and set about transforming himself into the world's greatest pick-up artist. The Game is his long, often tedious but hilarious account of how he did it. This ugly-duckling tale will affect different readers in different ways, depending on their degree of cynicism: some will be awed by Strauss's ménage-à-trois snowball scene, while others will suspect it was cribbed from a third-rate porno Strauss watched in his pre-macking days.When his story begins Strauss is, well, a Neil: an unconfident, self-described AFC (average frustrated chump). He is also, it should be noted, a well-known rock critic who penned porn star Jenna Jameson's autobiography, leaving one wondering just how pathetic women really found him. After paying $500 to join a workshop for aspiring PUAs (pick-up artists) led by a magician named Mystery at Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel, Strauss becomes addicted to pick-up technique. He trains with several PUA gurus, including Ross Jeffries, a hypnotist rumored to be the basis for the Tom Cruise character in Magnolia. With his brains and dedication, Strauss renames himself Style and soon becomes a master of the game—able to get sex from beautiful women who once would have run the other way.But The Game doesn't get really interesting until Strauss deviates from his NC-17 Horatio Alger story and tells what happens when he moves into a Sunset Strip mansion with a group of other PUAs. He starts to see the misogyny of the sport and realizes that most of its leaders had miserable childhoods. The AFC who became a PUA to understand women ultimately becomes an expert on men.As Strauss grows restless to talk about things other than number closes and phase shifts (the book's glossary is a juicy read of its own), the mansion loses its appeal and he reluctantly grows up. When he meets a tough-talking band mate of Courtney Love's named Lisa and they bond over music, we can guess where the narrative is headed. In the book's final pages, he dumps onto his bed all the phone numbers he's collected and tells Lisa, "I've spent two years meeting every girl in L.A. And out of them all, I chose you," which is like telling your mother-in-law that the Thanksgiving dinner you had last year at Applebee's was nothing compared to the one she just prepared. But for some reason, Lisa doesn't flee. I can only hope that in the inevitable 2007 movie version, starring Jack Black and Kate Hudson, Lisa throws the numbers in his face and leaves him for a guy who knows how to pay a girl a compliment. (Sept. 1)Amy Sohn is the author of My Old Man, which was just released in paperback by Simon & Schuster, and she writes the "Mating" column for New York magazine.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Kundenrezensionen

Ein echter Trip
In The Game schafft Neil Strauss es, einen interessanten und nicht von Heldenvergötterung (Männer) oder angstvoller Abscheu (Frauen) Blick auf eine Gemeinschaft von Männern zu werfen, die sich dem Ziel verschrieben hat, attraktiver für Frauen zu werden.

Er beschreibt allerdings nicht nur ihre Techniken und Ideen, sondern vielmehr eine Art turbulenten, süchtig machenden Lebensstil mit all ihren Tücken und Vorzügen.

Er beschreibt Menschen, die eine neue Art von social engineering erschaffen haben, der für manche reine Manipulation, für alle im Spiel jedoch ein tierischer Spass ist.

In diesem Buch werden die Schicksale von jungen Männern beschrieben, die genug von der Gesellschaft haben, ihre Mythen einreissen, beginnen zu lernen, was funktioniert und sich manchmal in diesem schillernden Leben verlieren.

Das Buch stellt irgendwann dann die Frage, nach was es sich lohnt zu strben. Wenn man die Fähigkeit hat, jede Frau anzuziehen, sie dazu zu bringen, ihren Freund oder Ehemann zu betrügen ohne mit der Wimper zu zucken und Dinge lernt, die man vielleicht gar nicht wissen wollte. Wenn man merkt, dass Unwissenheit ein Segen sein kann, und das Gerüst der Mythen der Gesellschaft längst zusammengebrochen ist.

Was ist dann eine echte Erfüllung? Wie kann man eine Frau noch wirklich lieben? Und was ist falsch daran, verliebt zu sein?
Was bedeutet überhaupt Liebe? Was ist ein "sozialer Roboter"?
Was bedeutet es, wirklich ein besserer Mann zu werden?
Können Götter einem helfen? Und nach was hat man wirklich gesucht, wenn man merkt, dass all diese Frauen einem nicht das zugeben scheinen, was man gesucht hat?

All diese Fragen stellte sich Neill Strauss vermutlich, während er dieses Buch schrieb.

Ich kann jedem Mann und auch jeder Frau empfehlen es zu lesen, um eine neue Sicht auf Dinge zu bekommen, die man nicht für wahr gehalten hat, die Frauen gerne verschweigen oder zur Lüge deklarieren, die von Männern für unmöglich gehalten werden und von wenigen auf dieser Welt gelebt werden.

Kaufen.

A fascinating must read!
This is one of the best stories I have every read! I think that it will teach almost every man out there at least a few valuable lessons about women, relationships, sex and life. I completely agree that this book can become a great starting point for a movie.

The story is about the fascinating transformation of an "average frustrated chump" into a first class pick up artist. It is never easy to go through such profound understanding about yourself, the girls in general and what you really need and want to have/achieve in life. However, Neil has successfully found the answers to these tough questions in less than 2 years. It is true that the childhood of all those wannapickup hot girls had been difficult. However, how many men in the world have had perfect and cloudless childhood? I guess, not many. That's why I see Neil's story as an example, at least for me, that you have no right to use such misfortune from your past as an excuse for not being successful with girls.

He proves to the reader with his personal example that if there is a will there is a way no matter whether you want to pick up girls, find the love of your life as he did at the end or open your mind for greater understanding of life. Additional exceptional book that surpassed my expectations is "Scientifcally guaranteed male multiple orgasms and ultimate sex" by Ritz. I highly recommend both bestsellers.

A fascinating must read!
This is one of the best stories I have every read! I think that it will teach almost every man out there at least a few valuable lessons about women, relationships, sex and life. I completely agree that this book can become a great starting point for a movie.

The story is about the fascinating transformation of an "average frustrated chump" into a first class pick up artist. It is never easy to go through such profound understanding about yourself, the girls in general and what you really need and want to have/achieve in life. However, Neil has successfully found the answers to these tough questions in less than 2 years. It is true that the childhood of all those wannapickup hot girls had been difficult. However, how many men in the world have had perfect and cloudless childhood? I guess, not many. That's why I see Neil's story as an example, at least for me, that you have no right to use such misfortune from your past as an excuse for not being successful with girls.

He proves to the reader with his personal example that if there is a will there is a way no matter whether you want to pick up girls, find the love of your life as he did at the end or open your mind for greater understanding of life. Additional exceptional book that surpassed my expectations is "Scientifically guaranteed male multi-orgasms and ultimate sex" by Alan Ritz. I highly recommend both bestsellers.