Speaking of Mystery, Jezebel has an amusing interview with the guy. I'm not a student of speed seduction (I much prefer the slow kind), and I haven't read The Game but I'd agree with this statement:
That's what this whole pick-up thing has been about. It's not about trying to pick up a girl so you can get laid. It's about building trust in someone, whether it's a sushi meal or an orgasm, at the same time life is just about experience.
In other words, and I think a lot of men may have a misconception about this (most women, though, I believe get it, at least subconsciously), is that the art of the pick-up has nothing to do with controlling or changing women, it's about imbibing the lives of the shy dweebs drawn to this stuff with just a little bit of goddamn passion and adventure and maybe making contact, however briefly, with another person.
Although, I admit that hat has got to go.
