Neil Strauss - The Game (Relaciones Humanas)

ionees humanasALSO BY NEIL STRAUSS

The Long Hard Road Out of Hell
WITH MARILYN MANSON

THE GAME

The Dirt
WITH MOTLEY CRUE

PENETRATING THE SECRET SOCIETY OF PICKUP ARTISTS

How to Make Love Like a Porn Star
WITH JENNA JAMESON

Don't Try This at Home
WITH DAVE NAVARRO

Neil Strauss
ReganBooks
An Imprint ofHarperCollinsPublishers

Cover silhouettes are from the followingfonts: Darrian's Sexy Silhouettes by © Darrian (http://westwood.fortunecity.com/cerruti/445/), Subeve by © Sub Communications (http://www.subtitude.com), Norp Icons 1 and Norp Icons 2 by © DJ Monkeyboy (http://www.djmonkeyboy.com). "The Randall Knife": Words and Music by Guy Clark © 1983 EMI APRIL MUSIC INC. and GSC MUSIC. All Rights Controlled and Administered by EMI APRIL MUSIC INC. All RightsReserved. International Copyright Secured. Used by Permission. In order to protect the identity of some women and members of the community, the names and identifying characteristics of a small number of incidental characters in this book have been changed, and three minor characters are composites.

THE GAME
COPYRIGHT © 2 0 0 5 BY N E I L STRAUSS. All rights reserved. Printed in the United Statesof America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. HarperCollins books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. For informationplease write: Special Markets Department, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. FIRST EDITION
Art direction and design by Michelle Ishay / Richard Ljoenes Cover design by Richard Ljoenes Interior design by Kris Tobiassen / Richard Ljoenes Interior illustrations by Bernard Chang

Dedicated to the thousands of people I talked to in bars, clubs, malls, airports,grocery stores, subways, and elevators over the last two vears. If you are reading this, I want you to know that I wasn't running game on you. I was being sincere. Really. You were different.

Printed on acid-free paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

ISBN 0-06-055473-8 05 06 07 08 09 QWK 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

"I COULD NOT BECOME ANYTHING:
NEITHER BADNOR GOOD, NEITHER A SCOUNDREL NOR AN HONEST MAN, NEITHER A HERO NOR AN INSECT. AND NOW I AM EKING OUT MY DAYS IN MY CORNER, TAUNTING MYSELF WITH THE BITTER AND ENTIRELY USELESS CONSOLATION THAT AN INTELLIGENT MAN CANNOT SERIOUSLY BECOME ANYTHING; THAT ONLY A FOOL CAN BECOME SOMETHING."

FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY,
Notes from Underground

Those who have read early drafts of this book have all asked thesame questions:

IS THIS TRUE? DID IT REALLY HAPPEN ? ARE THESE GUYS FOR REAL?
Thus, I find it necessary to employ an old literary device . . .

THE FOLLOWING IS A TRUE STORY.
IT REALLY HAPPENED.
Men will deny it, Women will doubt it. But I present it to you here, Naked, vulnerable, and disturbingly real. I beg you for your forgiveness in advance.

DON'T HATE THE PLAYER . . . HATE THEGAME.

CONTENTS
STEP 1 STEP 7

SELECT A TARGET 1
STEP 2

EXTRACT TO A SEDUCTION
LOCATION 243

APPROACH AND OPEN 13
STEP 3

STEP 8

PUMP BUYING TEMPERATURE 265 DEMONSTRATE VALUE 51
STEP 4 STEP 9

MAKE A PHYSICAL CONNECTION 319 DISARM THE OBSTACLES 107
STEP 5 STEP 10

BLAST LAST-MINUTE RESISTANCE 345
ISOLATE THE TARGET 147
STEP 6 STEP 1 1

MANAGE EXPECTATIONS 387 CREATE ANEMOTIONAL CONNECTION 207

GLOSSARY

439 451

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

STEP 1

SELECT

A TARGET

MEET MYSTERY
MEN WEREN'T REALLY THE ENEMY—
THEY WERE FELLOW VICTIMS SUFFERING FROM AN OUTMODED MASCULINE MYSTIQUE THAT MADE THEM FEEL UNNECESSARILY INADEQUATE WHEN THERE WERE NO BEARS TO KILL.
The house was a disaster. Doors were split and smashed off their hinges; walls were dented in the...