A review by ndgulotta
The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists by Neil Strauss

2.0

Ok, I read this book at the suggestion of one of my book club members. It was not what I expected. I was expecting a psychological analysis and guidebook on the workings of male/female relationships. What I felt I got was a memoir written by a man (a good writer, by the way) who had at that point only published memoirs co-written with famous people (Jenna Jameson, Dave Navarro) and finally got to write the novel wherein he was the central character and celebrity. I found the first half to be interesting and witty. And then you get to the middle where he "masters" The Game and it just becomes a sort of disgusting chronicle of exploits. I found myself disgusted with the entire male population while reading about the pick-up community and the author's submersion into it. Strauss really doesn't make men (especially socially awkward young men) sound very appealing in this book. I grudgingly finished the book just to see if my prediction that the author had to fuck 8 million women before he could really appreciate the love and companionship of one would be the end result (I won't ruin the end for you by telling you whether I was right or not).
The crux of it was this: I hated the book while I was reading it. But I have had several really fantastic discussions about it. I absorbed much more of the terminology and tricks of the trade than I thought I had. I've spent more than one alcohol infused evening discussing not so much the story-line but the tricks and methods that Strauss outlines in the book with groups of men and women alike. Although I start out stating my hatred for the book, I must be a great salesman, because everyone wants to check the book out by the time our discussion is over. Therefore, I grudgingly move it from 1 to 2 stars, because it's great conversation even if those chapters extolling Strauss' sexual prowess and woman-baiting powers got a bit gross.