Carrie Bradshaw 2.0

I know women have been all about the "He's just not that into you" since Miranda Hobbs uttered those words to two twenty-somethings in an episode of Sex and the City. Soon after a book followed, the author got a talk show, and a movie starring Jennifer Aniston is set to be released in February 2009. I'm happy for Greg Behrendt, but I'm so over his book. It's a light-weight compared to two other books I've read.


In The MANual self-proclaimed bad boy Steve Santagati plays the part of male best friend for women everywhere. He provides the dos and don'ts of attracting men while interjecting anecdotes from his life throughout each chapter.

Unlike Santagati's book, Neil Strauss' The Game was written for men, specifically pickup artists (PUA) in training. My philosophy is where best to learn what's going on in the mind of a guy, than from their guru.

The Game is Strauss' autobiography about how he transformed himself from a gawky rock and roll journalist to a Pickup Guru (PUG). Strauss' techniques aren't your run-of-the-mill cheesy pickup lines. They're actually quite technical and have their own set of terminology. This book gives an intriguing look into the social dynamics involved in picking up women.

I know you're wondering why I would even recommend these books to you. I think reading them gives girls the upper hand. This is especially true in the case of The Game. Knowing PUA terminology can come in handy when you least expect it.

It all started two weeks ago on Facebook. I was on Facebook chat with one of my friends when I checked to see who else was online. That's when I spotted it: the Facebook status of he-who-shall-not-be-named. It stated that he was "out sarging the night away."

I gasped, my eyes widened, and my heart skipped a beat. HWSNBN was using a pickup artist term for picking up girls. I was (and still am) in shock. I would never have taken him for a pickup artist.

After hours of debating whether or not to call out the potential PUA, I jokingly wrote on his wall, "Since when did you become a pickup artist?" The following morning I received a wall post from him saying, "... when did you discover the terminology?"

What followed was a series of messages between me and HWSNBN. I told him I had read The Game, and he said he had read it too. I had shocked the hell out of him when I called him out. Taking my initial wall post very seriously, HWSNBN said he was a minor league PUA back in the day (i.e. pre-sophomore year), but he lost a bit of his game after being in a relationship. The Game helped him fine tune his strategies.

Why he felt the need to divulge his dating history to me, I don't know. Jynx thinks he's feeling guilty. Maybe he is. He did delete my wall post that called him out.

After the messages with HWSNBN, I started thinking about the guys who've approached me. The ones who expected a response after an absurd pickup line were dutifully ignored. Guys who used some of the strategies I later recognized in Strauss' book got responses from me. Not major responses, but responses nonetheless.

The MANual and The Game are really excellent guides. You'll be able to navigate the dating scene more efficiently after adding these books to your reading list.