As readers of my post on Seduction Emperor . . . new clothes, style or substance?. . . or, just another middle aged guy who can’t relate? know, there is a lot of behind the scenes in the seduction influence communtiy as folks gear up for the release of

The Game : Undercover In The Secret Society Of Pick-up Artists by Neil Strauss which is an "undercover expose" of the seduction community (an industry and community of pick up artists who teach one another how to pickup chicks so to speak, some using bluster and cockiness and others using adaptations of neurolinguistic programming patterns and influence sets to make women feel good, associate those good feelings with them, and go from there and others emphasizing conversation skills and others telling their students to shape up and become the sort of men women desire (become, not pretend) and some basically saying women like bad boys so be an asshole and you’ll be successful. Obviously, any of these approaches and others will indeed work at some level but some are honestly seemingly designed to get in the way with successful inter-sex communication than others.

Neil Strauss spent a lot of time taking seminars and working on his skills until he too joined the ranks of the seduction gurus, the guys in the community who know how to play the game and do it very very well (see recent posts here on influence for more – especially, the recent piece on picking up Britney Spears where Struass writes of his experience using his skills at making women feel great with the pop icon who comes off as a bit more than a spoiled brat).

As part of the run up for the release of the book, ABC Prime Time Live will be airing a special hour program on the seduction community 1 Sept. 2005 with interviews with most of the top seduction trainers ranging from Ross Jeffries (the father of the contemporary seduction community), Mystery, and others, including Style (Neil Strauss) . . . they will have clips of actual seminars in session as well as interviews.

Now, here’s the question eating at the community . . . will the coverage be positive or are these guys and the community going to get raked over the coals? Strauss is considered a friend by a number of the bigtime teacher types but a Publishers Weekly review of his book by Amy Sohn on Amazon implies that he grows up in the end and realizes the game is hollow and that "He starts to see the misogyny of the sport and realizes that most of its leaders had miserable childhoods" and so he moves on to happy monogamy.

A recent piece in Britain’s the Sunday Times echoes the sentiment . . . Casanovas make Leicester Square a global pick-up point . . . with similar bits about Strauss growing beyond the childish selfish games of the pickup artist with a bit of a seeming warning to others about those he has left behind.

Obviously, this book is already on the must read list for a lot of folks in and outside of the community (Strauss is already a very accomplished writer so folks outside the community are also clamoring for it – it’s already a best seller at Amazon and hasn’t even been released – the actual release takes place Sept. 6, after the ABC special is sure to shoot interest out the roof).

The impression is that Style (Strauss) is still good friends with many in the community and as such simple laws of influence tell us you don’t screw your friends over but let’s see if the final piece is watered down or full on straight up material not unlike the various seduction sites with street reports and the like (sometimes sounding more like locker room bravado and trash talk in virtual webverse than useful information).

Of course, Strauss is still a reporter at heart and he certainly has found some useless bits of teaching out there . . . the misogyny is very high in some of these camps and the techniques of "caveman" and "alpha male equals badboy asshole" are certainly not taking a woman’s needs or pleasure in the relationship into account. Some of these guys are most definately inspired more by street pimps and macking and rough rapists than by the likes of Cassanova, Don Juan, or Valentino. However, others are very much into the concept of creating positive experiences that are consensual and fulfilling for both partners in the pickup so that the ladies are partners in the seduction (all seduction really should be based upon a positive interplay between knowing, consenting, fully participating adults . . .. well, that’s my take).

Whatever . . . guys will be seeking ways to increase their chances to be successful with women for eternity and beyond . . . as will women be searching for the most effective ways to attract desirable males. That’s just the way the species is and until we evolve into something that doesn’t require sexual attraction and sexual procreation, that’s the way it’s going to be . . . viva la difference . . . and I say that’s a very good thing. Men and women should celebrate their sexuality and what goes with it.

In any case, the influence message boards will certainly be aflutter on the evening of Sept. first (we don’t get the show here so I won’t be able to see it, only read about it) and most definately on Sept. six. Is the "game over" as some doomsayers are saying or is the game merely going to the next level . . . I suspect the "game most certainly is afoot."