A review by lorenzobc
The Game: Undercover in the Secret Society of Pick-Up Artists by Neil Strauss

4.0

this story would make for a sick movie, except that just like “Fight Club”, it would probably unintentionally motivate people to become pick up artists as oppose to reject the entire worldview. Strauss is a fantastic writer who is not afraid of opening up about deep insecurities that I’m sure many men can relate to as recounts his journey into the underground pick up artist community. Beyond that, the book serves as a useful reference point to understand the rise of incels (a group that has since rejected him “betraying men”) and just how much of our current predicament is related to the deteriorating mental health of our youth. I am glad I read this book because it challenged me to see the other side of lonely men whose social ineptitude makes them feel so hopeless that they turn into a border line mysogenist cult. Furthermore, Neil has an amazing ability to self-reflect upon the ways in which becoming a healthier, stronger and more confident person improves your life beyond dating, and how so many of the tactics pick up artists use cross-apply to salesmanship. I know everyone expects the book to be an apologetic treatise on pick up artistry, but it actually turns out into a raw and honest reflection upon a destructive obsession towards conquering women to make up for far deeper insecurities.