The only thing being "penetrated" here is your wallet, December 20, 2006
Reviewer: Dennis Littrell
This is fashioned as the "bible" for pick up artists: the cover is faux black leather on which the title of the book and some artwork are imprinted in gold. The pages are gilded and there is a red ribbon sewn into the binding to allow the aspirant to keep his place for future reference, possibly in case he gets tongue-tied.
HIS place, note. This book purports to teach young guys how to pick up chicks, how to elicit the "doggy dinner bowl look," i.e., "the entranced expression a woman gets in her eyes when she is attracted to a man who is talking to her." (Glossary, p. 441) The underlying premise is that it doesn't matter if you are short and balding and still live with your parents. If you've got a good line and exude confidence and know how to manipulate people, the babes will swoon. You are not required to be an alpha male.
In other words, this is a book biz hustle aimed at ordinary joes who aspire to be Don Juans. I think what Neil Strauss, who previously coauthored a book called, I kid you not, "How to Make Love Like a Porn Star," asked himself one day was, how does the "average frustrated chump" (see Glossary) who has no money, no talent, no future, no looks, no build, no charm, and no education get what he really wants--that is, chicks in bed just for the asking? Well, he doesn't, he concluded after some thought. And then he asked himself the real question: how can I as an aspiring literary artist take advantage of this situation? What is it that these guys believe or want to believe? If I can tell them that their belief is true, then I will have them laying down cold hard cash for a book of pure unadulterated BS.
Bingo, it hit him! You gotta have real insight into the female mind. That is what they want to believe since that can be learned. Of course he would have to pretend to acquire some plausible techniques, like how to present yourself, how not to come on too strong, but firmly with confidence and a devil may care attitude, and how to conduct yourself, always confident, never, but never, needy.
And so, fingers flying over the keyboard, Strauss spun out a list of steps. Begin with a warrior's or hunter's stance. Therefore Step 1 would be "Select a Target." It's a game after all--that's the key psychology. Picking up chicks is just a game. They know it. It's high time you knew it too. "Step 2: "Approach and Open." Business-like. All the nerds in the cubicals will relate to this terminology. There would 9 more steps including Step 6 "Create an Emotional Connection," and Step 10 "Blast Last-Minute Resistance."
He liked that expression, "blast!"--kind of sexual and warlike at the same time. After all this IS the battle of the sexes. Maybe even "Blast through Last-Minute Resistance..." But no, that would be too blatantly sexual. Woman want it, but they don't want to be reminded of that fact. They want finesse, firm finesse of course.
Strauss spent some time with some rock/porn star type mentalities masquerading as members of a "secret society of pickup artists"--guys who live in places like Encino with names like "Mystery" and "Style." Right! Isn't that what some women want in a man: mystery and style?
Actually what they really want is value, of course, or as they say in evolutionary psychology, men with resources. And this is what Strauss discovered and why he named Step 3 "Demonstrating Value," which for the targets of his book could be taken as: you can fake it.
Mystery, who Strauss tells us is "producing Basic Training workshops in several cities around the world, due to numerous requests" lays out the "Sex Magic" in his "Mystery Method" workshop beginning on page 35. Some highlights:
1. Smile when you walk into a room. See the group with the target and follow the three-second rule. Do not hesitate--approach instantly.
4. Neg the target with one of the slew of negs we've come up with. Tell her, 'It's so cute. Your nose wiggles when you laugh.' Then get her friends to notice and laugh about it.
10. Sit with her and perform a rune reading, an ESP test, or any other demonstration that will fascinate and intrigue her.
And so on.
There is a lot of this sort of thing, some kind of technique or some sort of line that some of the guys that Strauss talked to used or wanted to use at some bar or Hard Rock Café on some mindless twentysomething. Clearly Strauss believes it's all about technique, and I would say most women would agree. But that's NOT the kind of technique they had in mind.
The book is also filled with lots of dialogue, obviously imagined or reconstructed from notes, the kind of dialogue you find in popular novels. In fact, what this book is, is a novel in the guise of being a self-help book. Doesn't that just scream best seller?
The best part of the book is the Glossary. It's a collection of phrases and jargon that Strauss picked up on his travels. I gave a couple of examples above. Here's another one, perhaps the central one in the book: "FMAC--noun [find, meet, attract, close]..." We used to have one similar when I was young called "the four ef's": FFF&F. That does NOT stand for "Fat-Faced Fanny's Faloon" which was the name of a bar in Hermosa Beach. Maybe still is.
Bottom line here: Strauss is a pretty good writer so this is diverting and somewhat entertaining if you're under forty. If you're under thirty and a card-carrying nerd it might get you to salivating. If you're a teenage boy, this really IS the Bible.
