Love is a Game.

I hardly do any book reviews. But this book gets me very excited. Its written by Neil Strauss, who turned from a sad sod who has a not-so-exciting job and can-only-wish-to-be-laid to a successful astounding pick-up artist.

Reading his word-for-word account of how men were taught to pick-up girls, and reading all the juicy details of how men work to make women fall at their feet was certainly fun. However, certain tactics, i felt won't work. Like how he teaches men to open (picking up a girl) with a neg. To say something negative. Like, "your 2 front teeth reminds me of Bugs Bunny." His reasoning was, every guy in the room has already probably complimented her on how gorgeous she is, she don't need another. But if you were to neg her, she would be intrigued on why you said the opposite and therefore be drawn. It's like the more you push her away, the more she will want you because every other man is doing the opposite of what you're doing. They're desperate for her attention, whereas you not.

But like my friend (a mixed blood who lived in Singapore most of his life) says, he doubt Neil's pick-up tactics will work in Asia. I agree. True, that it's nothing new if a man compliments me on my dress, my smile, my eyes, my looks in a bar. BUT if he were to neg me, i would think that's totally rude. Nothing else would salvage my first impression of him.

However, his book was just too juicy to read that i couldn't put it down. The last book that i found it hard to let go was Harry Potter.

As i read his first 2 chapters, i was skeptical about the authencity of the book. The disclaimer wrote behind that this is a true story, that all events really happened. He wrote it like fiction, a ploy to spice up non-fiction.

I messaged an acquaintance whose profession is supposedly a date doctor. He told me Neil was a personal friend! Still skeptical about this whole pick-up community existing, i grilled my boyfriend. He was the one who introduced me this book and "swears by it". I still couldn't believe it's true. Then sheepishly, he admitted to attending workshops of the same kind in his teenage years. Pick-up workshops that cost a bomb. Workshops that the "guru" lectures you on social dynamics, work with you on your image then take you to the clubs for practicals after the theory. It was amusing knowing such a community exists!

I googled Neil and look at his before and after picture. Before, he was this thinning hair writer, after deciding to invest learning from a master pick-up artist, he transformed into a tanned sauve scorer.

He didn't turn into a natural good looker like Brad Pitt or Kutcher, but it sure did change his looks a great deal. And according to his tactics, even the ugliest man can sleep with 6 different girls in a week.

This is him now, at 40 years old. I haven't reached the end of the book yet, but i sort of foretell it's going to be an ending with a moral. One of those..."through my passage of playing the game, i found that i could get laid with many girls with these new found tactics. But at the end of the day, these tactics do not teach me how to score a long lasting relationship."

I never liked playing mind games, i prefer things simple and non complicated. Although there're will be less heartbreaks that way, we can't deny the fact that life IS a game. If you do not possess the skills to even pick some one up, how are you going to meet someone which can possibly lead to a long lasting relationship? How can you keep things uphill in your relationship if you stop playing the game of keeping her/his interest?

I picked my boyfriend up.