The Art of Seduction

Once she starts to think she didn't know you as well as she thought she did and displays a little interest in the new you, you can start over again and use the tactics in Greene's book. Greene's book never outlined how to seduce someone you've been friends with for a long time. I devised this strategy based on the tactics outlined in "The Art of Seduction." Like I said, it's work twice for me. The first friend became so enamoured that I had to break up with her after only a few weeks. She was smothering me! But I am still dating the second girl and it's great. If you balk at the idea of doing all this just to win someone over, consider that she may not be worth winning over after all, or that you might not be much of a Casanova. But I think that all this effort will actually make you a better man (or woman since this strategy should work on a guy too.) Happy hunting!


Not for the faint of heart.   July 6, 2005
Mark McDonald (Berkeley, CA United States)
84 out of 91 found this review helpful

If you are just looking for a good book to help you get laid with minimal effort, then put this book down. There are books that are much easier and will get you results much faster. This book is not about getting easy pussy at a bar or strip joint. It is about helping a person fall deeply in love with you, and this is better. A person in lust for you is wild and not concerned about you. A person in love with you will go to the ends of the earth for you.

If you have very little background in psychology and/or philosophy, put this book down because you're not ready to understand it yet. It is an incredible book and I hope you don't get turned off because you're not prepared to read it.

If you are a die hard, conservative Christian moralist who is happy with their life and belief system, then PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE put this book down. Your beliefs will change to some extent, I promise, regardless of how strong you think they are. And if they don't you'll just be filled with dissonant emotions when you really understand what the Bible means when it says the world can be a terrible place.

On the other hand, if you are intelligent, observant, and patient then this is just simply an incredible read. You will see everything in this world with a new outlook. It will teach you the most intricate workings of human nature. Human nature is dark. Consider the following two biological facts:

1. A woman is likely to retain more sperm when she has an orgasm during sex.

2. A man's sperm is designed to kill the sperm of other men.

What does this mean? Women have been biologically hardwired to seek one man (the Alpha male) to be the sperm donor and to seek out another to raise the kid (the Beta male). Sorry folks, nature is just that dark. And this book has exactly the same kind of dark twists. It explains what makes people fall for other people, even if it is not so pure and wholesome. And though it is dark, it still is true, and there is beauty in truth.

This book will teach you how to play other people's emotions. This is a very important thing to learn. One cannot survive in this world without these skills. The most important thing people must realize about this book is that what is containes here is a dual edged sword. It most certainly can be used for evil. It does teach manipulation. But it also a book that can be used for good. With this kind of knowledge one can keep their partner happy for life. A seducer is a benevolent manipulator by definition.

For instance, if the seducer is really interested in mutual benefit, much useful learning will take place. A woman will learn that the most powerful way to keep her man happy is to be a sexual woman and a fun playmate. She will learn how to keep things spiced up with a few masculine psychological traits to appeal to masculine narcissism, deepen a man's love by giving him the gift of missing her. A man will learn how important it is to let his woman know how much he desires her and will also keep things spiced up with styling. Men and women can both learn how to keep people happy by being nondefensive and natural, to psychologically enrich others by being charismatic and charming, and to give and receive love as ideal lovers. And I've seen how much people who embody the psychological traits of the anti-seducer are despised by other people. The anti-seducer leaves people feeling diminished and hurt.

To summarize, it's hard, it's dark, and it can be used to wreak havoc in the lives of others. But most people don't want to hurt others. They want to live, and help other people live, better, happier more enriched lives in all ways. I truly believe that with the knowledge that is in this book, people can accomplish just that.

Use it wisely, young Jedi. The dark side of the force is much more seductive.


Are you being fooled by Greene's seductive language?   March 28, 2005
Brian (USA)
65 out of 71 found this review helpful

DO NOT lie to yourself. None of us picked up this book to guard themselves against future abusers and seducers. None of us were trying to be "safe" or "practical"--if books like this didn't exist, the world wouldn't need to know these tricks in order to protect themselves.

There are two schools of thought that the average reader seems to have:
1) This book is not inherently evil; it depends on how it is used. Besides, if you don't know the rules of seduction, how can you keep from being seduced?

and

2) This book IS evil; it strips down and dehumanizes the entire rest of the world, ruining both the life of the seducer and the lives of the "seduced."

I will not be able to change your mind by stating my opinion--most people are not going to change their opinion about anything in their life, no matter what someone else says. What I will bring to your attention is the fact that this book has powerful manipulative power in and of itself. If you honestly believe every word this book says, be careful--Robert Greene is seducing you.

Think about it. The guy is a master of power, the author of two very successful, very influential tomes. Why wouldn't he use his carefully cultivated powers of influence (manipulation) to fool millions of readers into believing every word he says?

First, let's take a look at how the book is laid out. In the Preface, Robert Greene is constantly charming you, begging you to stay with him throughout the book. "It is pointless to try to argue against such power, to imagine that you are not interested in it, or that it is evil and ugly. The harder you try to resist the lure of seduction--as an idea, as a form of power--the more you will become fascinated" (Greene xxi).

Look at that quote meticulously for a moment. He knows that most people who have picked up the book are feeling timid and queasy, because in their guts they know that this book is trouble. So he brings this emotion to the spotlight, and assures you that no one is able to resist this temptation, that the more you hide from it, the more it will grab you. Automatically, he has "insinuated" in your head the thought that you are powerless, that you need (not WANT, but NEED)seduction to feel confident. Never mind the fact that you have gone all your life without using it (hopefully).
At the end of the preface, he then ends with the sentence "Slowly you will find yourself absorbing the poison through your skin...you will begin to see everything as a seduction..." (Greene xxv). POISON? You have suspected all along that this book is poison. Now, he is not directly instructing you to drink it--he just wants it to be near you, so that it can tempt you. Maybe a little of the poison will rub off on you, with minimal effort on your part.

Do you really want more poison in your life?

As the book continues, he gives descriptions of each of the nine seducers. Notice that he fills your head with intoxicating images of historical figures, such as Cleopatra, Marilyn Monroe, Casanova, Valentino, and royalty such as Queen Victoria. He is dazzling you with these images to make you believe that you can have the glory and power that they had.

Do you think that that's REALLY a reasonable conclusion to make?

The rest of the book is laid out somewhat coldly--he comes right out and says that you are stirring anxiety and discomfort, "victimizing" people, keeping them guessing, creating confusion. By now, he's got you hooked. It doesn't matter what he says--we will just eat it out of the palms of his hands.

I know that you might feel powerless, angry, in need of love. But this book will only lead to further destruction. And it certainly will not give you love. The absurdity that struck me most in this book is the notion of the Ideal Lover. "If another person seems to have that ideal quality...we fall in love." You cannot make someone love you by acting as their ideal. Love isn't some sick game. And, quite honestly, it has nothing to do with qualities, interests, or goals that someone might possess. Love is a mystery--most of the time, one cannot really tell why he is in love. Just like you can't stop loving someone if you do--you can't make someone love you if they don't already.

So, if you're interested in a guide to make someone addicted to your cycles of manipulation, pleasure, and pain--go for it.

If you're intersted in love, stop sitting inside reading and get out of the house!

ONE MORE THING: The reason why I gave this five stars is that it is a masterpiece and a very entertaining read. I literally cannot put it down, despite how much it makes my stomach turn. If you really want to be shocked, amazed, and spellbound, then I highly recommend it.

OTHERWISE, stay the hell away from it. It is poison.


Profound   October 9, 2001
reader (mountain view, CA USA)
357 out of 413 found this review helpful

I have been waiting for this book for almost 2 years. It did not disappoint me. I found it to be a profound book, although not necessarily a pleasant book. It caused me to re-think my relationships, perhaps even re-think myself. The 48 Laws of Power is the "bible of power". This is less general but more profound, which may be why it is unnerving. I have stopped reading the Joost Elffers sidebars, although I might in the future when I want a more light-hearted experience. I read a lot of books. My library is embarrassingly large. However, I do have a mental list of the few books that I would take to the proverbial desert island. This is one of them, and it is ironic that I would do this even though there would be no one else on the island to seduce. This book is a synthesis of philosophy and psychology, and is paradigm breaking. Freud must have had a similar unnerving effect on his contemporaries when he discussed premises for behavior that were perviously not part of social discourse.

I did not find the book to be amoral or manipulative. I found it to have a different morality than that which is instilled in us by convention. The book celebrates non-possessive intimacy, and describes the mindset that is the prerequisite to such an experience. I am struggling for words to express this, but it is as if there were more than one dimension to a relationship, a human bonding. We are used to relationships that are symetrical in time and depth: they are either shallow and brief, or they are deep and eternal. Greene describes a variation that is brief and deep. This is what differentiates this book from the tawdry.