I don't get this book. It's pathetic, the book, the men in it and their cult. What a bunch of losers. It's mind boggling that this book was once on NYT best sellers list. Why? I heard it being mentioned on Invasion of Privacy podcast and taught that it will be an interesting read. I was expecting to be thrown in into a secret society of men who decided to share their secrets on picking up women. What I got was a pile of bullshit on a pile of crap on a pile of whatthegoddamnfuck. I refuse to believe that events in the book really happend in real life. Author is either full of it or world is over populated with women with tons of daddy issues, who would cut off their right tit for a side glance from a low life idiot.

Their tactics and pick up lines were beyond stupid. The secret to picking up a woman - never show her you are interested right away, start with an insult first, about her character, the way she looks. You should ignore a woman at first, talk to her friend in stead. If she does comment on something you said, smirk and say that it's cute the way her nose wiggles when she laughs, get her friends to notice too and get them laughing too. Then show her a magic trick. I don't know who to be mad at, these men in the book, or women who fell for this idiocity. If a dude would say something like that to me, I would give him such a nasty stare down that his skin would start itching.

I'm not exaggerating, that's the big secret. Fake piercings are a must. Make shit up about your life, never show your true self.

The self proclaimed love gurus talk a big game, but when you read further, you learn that they are nothing more than dudes who's mommies didn't hugged them enough. In one chapter you read about a guy sleeping with tons of women, in the next, that he's living with his parents and his grown ass sibling who's married and living at home too. He talks about mind blowing threesomes and I wonder how he managed to sneak women in without his parents raising an eyebrow. What do women think, when a guy tells a fancy ass story of how big of a big shot he is, then brings you to his parents home to have sex. Women in the book don't question that, they seem to fall head over heels for this nonsence. And they are talking about seducing a women of a high caliber. That is why I don't believe the events in the book. What smart, well educated, self confidant woman would fall for it? Because that is their priority target. According to these men, every one of them, because their lousy pick up lines are rock solid. Whatthegoddamnfuck?
And it's not just women in US who fall for this crap, the dudes are known worldwide, they travel from country to country picking up the best of the best of them. *cough*bullshit*couch*
They have these sky high expectations of women, yet have nothing to offer themselves.

Then there is the bullshit bit about the author climbing the latter of the pick up chain. He hasn't even got the chance to sniff a boob, yet his new buddies are in awe of his talents. I'm sure author wouldn't mind me calling him pathetic too, because his inner monologues hints towards him realizing how full of crap his new friends are. Then yet again, after DNFing this jewl, I read about the author and see a picture of him keeping the same makeover that the losers suggested. And then, what do you know, a picture with his wife, that could be his daughter, who is a model, not well know, but still, has the title. According to the author, this journey was suppose to be an educational. What did he learn? Nothing, if the info about him is anything to go by.

Just to clarify, I made it to 58%. I just couldn't take it anymore of the nonsense.
So those are the secrets to picking up women? Are you fucking kidding me? Losers like these existed since the beging of time. It's not a secret. Why was this book a bestseller? I'll never understand.

För att det ganska ofta fortfarande i ny litteratur hänvisas till The Game, ville jag läsa boken. Men det blev att jag fick skumma mig igenom. Inget annat var möjligt.

Jag måste nog börja med att erkänna min insikt i att den här boken riktar sig förstås inte alls till mig. Jag är kvinna, i en fast relation med noll intresse av amerikanska kändisar. Dessutom gillar jag litteratur, inte Hänt Extra.

Jag ogillar kategorin fulkultur men den här sorterar faktiskt in där under. Allt mellan dessa pärmar är fult. Inte minst språket som är i 50-shadesnivå.

Istället för att bara skriva en novell eller helst en artikel, ännu bättre en notis om att han, Neil Strauss var en osäker man med ett utseende och en personlighet som inte gick hem hos Hollywoods dekadenta kändis”elit” men att han efter att ha lärt sig spelet - att manipulera sin omgivning samt sitt yttre - fick knulla med så många anorektiska knarkande opererade blonderade 18-åringar att han blev trött på det och kom på att kärlek är roligare. (Det botade också hans impotens.) Istället skrev han en låååång bok med en massa fadda anekdoter och ett fjantigt språk.

Tycker synd om honom eftersom han måste dras med den här i sitt framtida liv. Här hade pseudonym varit bra, fast då hade boken förstås inte slagit igenom. Jag tycker synd om män som tror att alfahanne-stilen är att föredra och jag tycker synd om kvinnor som utsätts för dessa män.

Nej hörreni, det här var inget för mig. Överkryssad stjärna

I grew up reading lots of articles online and magazines on how to approach guys, how to be sexy, how to act/say in front of guys, blah blah. This book is pretty much that for guys but way more extreme. The first 40% of the books chronicles the author's transformation from an average, nerdy, short balding guy into a womanizer using techniques he learned from some of the top pickup artists.  These techniques exploit the insecurity of women for the sole purpose of bedding them. If you stop reading here then you would hate this book: it is extremely misogynistic, amoral, and degrading to women.

I couldn't put this book down. Towards the 60% mark onwards, even he could bed any hot woman he wants - his life goal - he still feels unfulfilled. These pick ups often end with just one night stands, casual/sexual relationships with no meaning and depth. His worth depends solely on the external validation of how many and the hotness of the women he sleeps with.  This realization slowly extracts him from the pick up community to seek for a more meaningful relationship.

The book is an insight into the lonely and desperate world of the so-called nice, nerdy guys and the length they are willing to go in order to get laid. Although there's some instant gratification in playing the game, as cliche as it is, self worth comes from within. No number of hot babes could elevate it when you see yourself as that ugly, desperate, and nervous little boy.

One star off for the slow and agonizing drama depicted in too much details between the different characters living in the house.

Fascinating and horrifying. Glad I read it but definitely do not take this as a recommendation, these men are ill.

The pickup artist subculture is arguably the most inadvertently funny cadre of people I can bring to mind. If you read this book and "practice any of its teachings," you are either a sociopath or, more likely, a maladjusted, misogynist nerd. The stories here are just utterly ridiculous and I straddle the line between believing none of them or all of them are true—either option is hilarious to me. Neil Strauss actually does do a decent job of revealing the humanity of these people and I found that pretty impressive. It's pretty clear by the end of the book that he's in on the joke now, that he realizes just how absurd and dehumanizing this sort of "lifestyle" is. Sometimes, you just need to read something that feels like the worst reality TV imaginable and, for the last week or so, this delivered plenty of entertainment. Do yourself a favor if you, like me, are addicted to cringeworthy and accidental humor and either read this or watch the VH1 offshoot somewhere online.

Anyone wishing to learn a few tips about how to become smooth with the ladies - you can forget about this book as a source of any practical wisdom. In fact, any practical tips offered in this book should immediately go to your list of things of what NOT to do, since they have become so well known by now that unless you approach someone totally alone and clueless, you will surely be busted as using "that seduction stuff from that book... "the game" was it called?".

However, anyone wishing to read an insightful book about the world of PUAs (pick up artists) or a hugely entertaining book in general, this book is perfect. It is laugh-out-loud funny, it has drama and suspense, it has an evil scheming antagonist and a protagonist (not the author, but his friend Mystery), who is on top of the world on one moment and diving into the depths of despair the other. It even has a positive message - if you can believe that!

All in all, one of the best books I've read in a while. Highly recommended!

Halfway through this book and so far I'm loving and hating it at the same time. Loving it, because it's twisted and dark and scandalous debauchary - all of my fave things to read about. Hate it because it's mysogyny to the core. It's insulting to women AND men... but I think that arousing this kind of anger in me is good, because it's making me appreciate the 'good guys' - the 'nice guys' more and more and more... to all of you dirty PUAs (pick up artists) out there - sorry guys, but I KNOW I WOULD NEVER FALL FOR THIS CRAP.

See, I've been putting off reading this for a long time (even when I read all the other Neil Strauss books a couple of years back), because I knew this would happen. I would enjoy it, and now what? Now I'm a person who actually enjoys The Game of all fucking books. How do I live with myself?

Tbf, everyone sells this book as 'that book that teaches guys to be mean to women to get laid' and that's not really what it is. It's not surprising people think that, because it was sold to EVERYONE like that, and the author himself is extremely douchey about it in the beginning of the book. But that's the point, of course. You gotta pretend, you gotta get into it to really get to the bottom of what it's about.

And yes, parts of it is about negging and doing dumb shit, but when you get down to it, the PUAs have really only figured out three things: 1) women like to have sex almost as much as men, 2) if you actually talk to women about interesting things and don't creep on them all night your chances of having said sex will increase with 1000% percent and 3) ... okay I don't have a good third thing but point two is long enough to count. But really, that's all there is. Talk to women, give them space to breathe occassionally and take a chance and you're good to go. Oh wait, the third thing is confidence!! Act like people are gonna like you and they probably will.

It's not rocket science.

But ofc, these dudes can't leave it to that, because you can't take 1500 dollar per workshop by only selling those three points, so they add all the unnecessary shit, like long scripts, stupid clothing and magician acts because it's not a lifestyle if it's not dumb. And if it's a lifestyle and online, lonely dudes are gonna find it, and two years down the road you're gonna realize that you did get a lot of sex women but you also found yourself in the gigantic online group wank with a bunch of other dudes. You won't have made any lasting or interesting connections.

And that's the point everyone who shits on this book misses, that in the end Neil Strauss doesn't find his girlfriend by playing The Game. Yes, playing the game put them in each other's spheres, but that's how it is with life experiences, they will change you. But it wasn't negging or scripts or fancy hats that made them find each other, it was being social, interesting and real. It's not exactly subtle in the end, but of course, people want to have opinions.

Don't get me wrong, the book is gross in many ways, but not everything has to be pretty. Sometimes you meet some fucked up but interesting characters along the way, and that's a good story to read.

I would like to read a follow-up to this, not about hard it was for Neil Strauss to form lasting relationships afterwards like he did, but how this book has shaped the insane incel culture and male entitlement that is now rampant online. I have feeling those things are deeply linked.

I picked this book up at Goodwill as a joke and actually thoroughly enjoyed it! It's funny, honest, and the narrator has a good amount of self awareness throughout which made it super interesting to me.

Yes, I'm female and No, I didn't read this to learn "pick-up" tricks! I heard about this New York Times bestseller a couple months ago from a girlfriend of mine in LA, I was intrigued enough to pick it up. Once I started reading I could not put it down! It is 400+ pages and it's an absolute page turner (in my opinion). It is very easy to read. I read the whole book in one weekend.

Strauss exposes an interesting, often sad world of how easily everyone (men and women) can be manipulated, influenced, and persuaded by our unmet needs, emotions, and our primal need to belong and connect with others. He plays this out in the LA social scene. But again, it goes far beyond dating and pick-up lines.

The Game is a bit of a disturbing look into our "emotional hooks", how and why we make decisions, non-verbal communication, and how we all use or don't use power tactics. It is a book like none other- I've never read anything like it.

It is a true story of Strauss and his life in LA for a couple years, it is a wild, thought provoking, raw story. The 'pick-up" components are 3% of the story, and the under currents of psychology/ human behavior is 97% of the book. I've read alot of self-help, pseudo-spiritual books over the years, this one definitely stayed with me, it is an eye opener!

Really, this book deserves a 5 based on reader engagement, storytelling, perfect book length, etc.
1 star off for the blatant objectification of women.

Here's the kicker, though.
The pickup art in Neil Struass's book is a lot more honest a way of getting laid then by leading on a girl emotionally in order to get laid. The method is not coercive, and not even really deceptive. Not more deceptive than a good salesman is, which is really what pickup is.
The one thing that pissed me off was the neg. Why the need to put someone down like that ? I also get why that works so well. And that's also why pickup is sleazy.

The fact that Neil is a "redeemed" version of the pros makes the book a lot more palatable and enjoyable.

Al momento que empiezas a leer este libro piensas que es una novela, pero mientras más lees e investigas sobre el autor te das cuenta que se trata de anécdotas del mismo autor en el mundo de la seducción.
El libro es bueno, es facil de leer, es entretenido, divertido y podría decirse "informativo".