Contest Winner, LJ Delays, and What I've Been Reading

[alanajoli]

I posted an entry on Sunday night, announcing the contest winner from last week. (Congratulations, SiNn! Your book went in the mail today!) Unfortunately, LJ ate it. So, no contest this week. You'll have to wait 'til Friday or Saturday (whichever day I wind up posting) to hear about the new fairy book (and additional incentive).

I've been reading a couple of really interesting books lately. One, The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists, was recommended to me by Locus writer and artist Adam Black, who I met during my active DrunkDuck days. (He was writing the KISS Web comic while I was working on Cowboys and Aliens II; we've had some great discussions about the treatment of female characters in comics.) It's essentially a book about men who learn the necessary social tricks and cues to get women to go home with them. Both fascinating and disturbing (due to the complete objectification of women that, unsurprisingly, results), it's an incredible study of human interaction, much of which, I think, can be applied beyond the very specific sphere covered by the book. To some degree, people all manipulate situations to their best advantage -- or play roles based on their social circle or family position -- and we all learn skills of how to "manage" friends or peers or family. We know which co-worker will react best to blunt criticism, and which friend will have to be coached through any sort of life upheaval with great care and support (rather than the swift kick in the pants they might sometimes deserve). This is that same idea taken to an extreme, for what might be considered a nefarious -- or at least dishonest, selfish, etc. -- purpose. And, of course, the book is set up such that it's clear the situation will crash and burn by the end -- we're just watching the train wreck get set up.

The other title is a book that was recommended to me by Contrapositive Diarist Jeff Duntemann (jeff_duntemann) when I was talking about crosses and other symbols. Called Outward Signs: The Language of Christian Symbolism by Edward N. West, it's an amazing reference book that includes brilliantly simple line illustrations for symbols of the church, from different crosses to the meanings behind animals to heraldic representations of saints. Perhaps best of all is a lovely introduction by Madeline l'Engle. I'm returning the library copy but have already placed an order through Alibris.com to procure a used copy for my own. (The book, sadly, appears to be out of print.)

I very rarely make my way all the way through nonfiction titles (it's no surprise that I've been picking up Outward Signs in spurts, and is a huge surprise to me how quickly I got wrapped up in The Game), so posting about two together is quite a rarity for me. What are other folks reading these days that they find worth talking about?

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Maybe The Game kept your attention because it's the stuff, in a sense, of storytelling? The "player" has to understand human nature really well in order to manipulate people--and a storyteller/novelist needs to understand human nature too. There's also something compelling/disturbing about the thought of someone taking time to understand how people work, but with self-serving intent. Sounds like a very interesting read indeed.

[vita-ganieda.livejournal.com]

Terrifying thing: http://roissy.wordpress.com/
Considerably more terrifying thing: this is nowhere near the most sexist or unpleasant Game website I've come across.

[lyster.livejournal.com]

Considering that The Game starts with central character Mystery in a rejection-and-valium induced haze making an Interview with the Vampire-style "if I wanted to, I could-" speech to a psychiatric nurse, I'm not sure it's going far enough to say that the train wreck is "inevitable." :)

Most of the pickup artistry stuff I've read is Social Psychology plus kinesthesiology -- the wikipedia article on fundamental attribution bias is a good and more academic intro to the concepts at work. The Game's concern for "approach" echoes advice I've given to countless friends (and myself!) while they moped about unapproachable women: "Talk to her, you dope!" and "Be natural -- don't assume you're unworthy before you start." I find the "collector" aspect of the rake's lifestyle, and its disregard for the people on the other end, deeply creepy and hollow, though.

Personally, I view pickup artistry as I do to a lot of odd stuff in life: material for fiction. Ever since reading Dune as a kid I've been curious as to the effective techniques of Getting What You Want from people, instilling fear, love, trust in the shortest period of time possible. Being at work surrounded by good salesfolk is one kind of education in this; books like The Game are another. There's only a difference in degree and ambition between the kind of intense, megalomaniacal charisma and drive you need for being a full-on pickup artist and the same qualities needed to be a good cult leader, general, revolutionary, what have you.

Denovo, in Three Parts Dead, borrows some of Game technique now that I think about it: the teasing self-centered way he approaches relationships, the pleasant manipulation of social situations. He's interested in sex as an outgrowth of power, which is kind of the reverse of the pickup artist path, but that's a story for another time...