Rules of the Game (Hardcover)

by Neil Strauss (Author) "Throw out everything you know about dating..." (more)
Key Phrases: indirect openers, lour mission, friend opener, Village People, Sushi Nazi, Thomas Scott (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Neil Strauss, the New York Times bestselling author of The Game, presents Rules of the Game:

I. The Stylelife Challenge
Master the Game in 30 Days

II. The Style Diaries
The Pickup Artist's Companion

Questions for Neil Strauss

Amazon.com: Yours has to be one of the strangest career paths in the book business: from rock critic at the New York Times, to cowriter of memoirs with rockers and porn stars, to bestselling seduction guru. Do you ever wonder how you got from point A to point Z?

Strauss: Oddly, I never do. Instead, I wonder why it took me so long to get to point Z. And then I wonder if people are going to stick with me when I go to point whatever-is-after-Z next. I guess that would be point AA--which, come to think of it, I've already been to with Dave Navarro while writing his book.

Amazon.com: You write in the introduction to Rules of the Game that you thought The Game was your "last word on the subject," and you were ready to get on with your life. But, like Michael Corleone, you got pulled back in. Why was it so hard to leave?

Strauss: Good simile. Someone else compared it to Donnie Brasco. There's something about the seduction community that sucks people in. I've seen college kids drop out of school; doctors quit their jobs; and celebrities take huge career risks to pursue this knowledge.

It may be because, according to the Kinsey Institute, most men think about sex every two minutes. But our society has never given them tools to safely fulfill these desires. Once they find out there's a way to learn to be more successful with women--and see evidence that it works--they tend to dive in headfirst. Perhaps because, when it comes down to it, this is why we're really here.

Amazon.com: Do you meet women who have read The Game? What do they think? And with the thousands of people out there you have trained and the many more thousands who have read the book, are women starting to recognize the strategies? Do they ever say, "Hey, you're playing the Game on me"?

Strauss: I've run into some women who've read the book to learn about the male mind, and they've all been positive about it--the book, that is, not the male mind. It's the women who've heard of the book but haven't read it who want to burn it.

And actually, a guy at a book signing the other day told me he got caught using one of the openers. But he still walked away with her phone number. His advice: on the rare chance that it happens, don't get scared and scamper off. Instead, use it as an opportunity to start a conversation about the game itself and whether it works. If they've read the book, this obviously means they're interested in the subject--and now you both have something in common.

Amazon.com: Rules of the Game is actually two books: the Stylelife Challenge and the Style Diaries. The first book is pretty straightforward: a 30-day plan for "Mastering the Game." But the second one is not what you'd expect in a self-help book. Can you explain what it is and why you included it?

Strauss: I didn't want to just give people a self-help book, and promise that their life will be sunshine and unicorns forever. I wanted them to know that with knowledge and power come a new set of challenges and problems. So the black book contains seduction stories from the dark side of the game, and the fact that, as the German director Fassbinder put it, "We were born to need each other, but we still haven't learned how to live with each other."

Amazon.com: Part of the story of The Game was the tension of what happens, after you've become proficient at the Game, when you find someone you love. Is that the point: to go from player to lover (or, ulp, husband!)? How do you do that? Or does playing the Game become its own end for some people?

Strauss: If you master the game, then you also must master your own fears and insecurities. And overcoming these destructive traits can only help you have healthier relationships. That said, the downside to learning the game and then falling in love is that you have to be strong, because there are a lot more options than there once were. So for readers who are having trouble: the secret to monogamy is realizing that the fantasy of being with someone else is usually better than the reality. You can't do better than love.

Product Description

If you want to play the Game, you've got to know the Rules.

In his international bestseller The Game, Neil Strauss delved into the secret world of pick-up artists--men who have created a science out of the art of seduction. Not only did he reveal the techniques that they had developed, but he became a master of The Game, and the world's No. 1 PUA, as Style.

Now, in his first follow-up to The Game, comes an extraordinary package: A lavishly produced, two-volume pocket-size set that every pickup artist--accomplished or aspiring--will need to have. The first book, The Stylelife Challenge, is the manual Strauss thought he'd never write: the ultimate guide to landing the woman of your dreams. Bound in white leatherette, it offers an in-depth 30-day program, Strauss challenges readers to confront their insecurities and overcome them through a process of rigorous self-examination, briefings and field missions.

In the second book, Strauss takes readers into the dark side of The Game. Bound in black leatherette, The Style Diaries offers a series of tales of seduction and sexual (mis)adventure. From accidentally getting married during a drunken night in Reykjavik, to luring a famous musician's granddaughter into a threesome; from conducting a keenly felt and tender relationship over email, to the stress and frustration of the torturous and highly unorthodox "30 Day Sex Experiment," The Style Diaries takes you further into the seduction underworld than ever before, and delves where The Game never dared to tread: into the even more complicated rules of relationships.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: It Books (December 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061540455
• ISBN-13: 978-0061540455
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #860 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

103 of 124 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful, Cogent, Well Written, December 23, 2007

By	Michael P. Maslanka (dallas, texas United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

As with Mystery's book, this one is a primer on persuasion and negotiation. Strauss covers in rapid fire fashion some well established ground: show value; don't be needy; exude confidence, But he also instructs on some new areas: learn the power of a story(two minutes tops, hone it down and practice off hand delivery); understand reframing( you are not an engineer, you are designing the next generation of cell phone); do not take a "no" as rejection but as an opportunity to learn and re-tool. Plenty of useful advice(the one on knowing when to get a number and how shows real insight in how to ask for what you want in any situation). The essay book has good stuff in it but is uneven. The book print is small so get a powerful reading lamp or a nice sunny day in the park.

62 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go watch the movie..."Ground Hog Day"..., March 1, 2008

By	Charles Runels, MD "research physician & fath... - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In the movie Ground Hog Day, Bill Murray cannot seduce the woman of his dreams until he eventually just forgets the woman and works on creating a better Bill Murray.

The best way to attract is to actually be attractive.

Strauss teaches that being attractive deals with who you are and what you are doing on the planet (not just with your attire and body shape). Surprisingly, much of the point of one of these two books is simply about how to create a better self (not so much about crazy sexual adventure). Here you will find a step-by-step improvement plan that includes details of grooming, presence, speech, goal development, and social interactions.

It can be a handicapp to be honest and loving but be seen as cold and manipulative. Seduction techniques can actually help an honest person avoid being misinterpreted.

If you are already successful in the social and business world, most of this will be review. But, you may find a few blind spots if you breeze through the plan.

Though the game of seduction can be cruel and manipulative and used for ill means. Like any powerful tool, it can be used for good as well. In the best use, seduction means being deliciously attractive in who you are and what you are about. Christ was seductive in this sense; attractive in love and power to the point that people were happier for giving up everything to follow him around.

I have a 16-year-old son. The 30 day plan offers him good starting strategies for developing social and business skill. But, the detailed advice should be valuable for most men and women of any age.

Charles Runels, MD

98 of 125 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling Sequel by the PUA Master, December 27, 2007

By	Victor Leonelli (Phoenix) - See all my reviews

Just when you thought all the PUA stories were told, Neil cranks out another soon to be bestseller. A fascinating sequel to Strauss's groundbreaking pick up artist classic with a twist. The void of male social dynamics and pick up advice with substance is masterfully filled with the entry of Rules of the Game. His techniques are compelling, and his tales are infectious page turners.

This slickly packaged title is a two volume set. Its focus begins with establishing your identity, expectations and desires to better concentrate your efforts on your relationship goals. It dissects the psychology of female expectations, and lays out in classroom format the smooth adaptable skills that satisfy their wants and needs to create physical and an emotional connection.

Part one -the Stylelife Challenge is a 30 day instructional mental-workout program; the HOW TO for improving your social marketing; perfecting your personality, body language and image, creating sexual chemistry and attraction; virtually 100s of tips, exercises, and techniques, logically explained step by step.

What I really liked is he explains exactly how and why each facet of your studies works, and assigns you homework. You're forced to do somewhat uncomfortable things until you become a natural through repetition; till each skill is performed effortlessly. Each chapter builds and expands on the previous. After learning all 30 you've got the mindset and confidence to have Game.

Part 2 - The Style Diaries: fascinating to unusual stories from the trenches that focus on the unexpected bad results that occur due to bad decisions in the middle of encounters. It's the HOW NOT TO game women. As always, Neil's infamous story telling of underworld situations are riveting and bizarre, from conquests to hilarious train wrecks. Edge of your seat field reports brilliantly written. He hangs with the who's who of Rock Stars and travels the globe, injecting himself in situations most of us can only dream of. The conquests could be penned in a braggadocio style, but his writing is self-deprecating and fun; he's learning and laughing along with us. A contagious writing style.

Rules of the Game is a very unique concept, and needed to be written. The first title simply left too many men desiring all the PUA tools Style used in the previous title. It's an advanced classroom explaining how he learned to execute all the killer pulls of hot women in the Game. If you're reading this, you've probably already read Mystery's manual. I'd also highly suggest for deeper PUA psychology and a million laughs another bestseller in this genre you'll see mentioned above.

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