Neil Strauss: Greatest Pick Up Artist Becomes Survival Stud!
Neil Strauss is an inspiration to millions of un-smooth, romantically-challenged male nerds, geeks and dweebs for becoming "Style," the "world's greatest pick-up artist." To me, he is an inspiration for challenging himself, overcoming his fears and succeeding at attaining his goals.
Neil, who considered himself a nerdy writer, discovered a group of pick up artists who taught men the rules of attraction. Interested in this culture, he entered into their world and did so well, he became a pick up legend. This time, he takes his curiosity of world crises and immerses himself into a life of self survival.
Before discussing his new book, I couldn't resist asking him about his Pick-Up Artist experience:
Do you prefer to go undercover for your stories?
Absolutely. I don't know want people to know who I am because I don't want them to act differently or treat me differently. I want regular treatment and to get the true experience.
Did you break any relationships or upset anyone when coming out with The Game?
Actually, by the time I was ready to tell the guys, I had become so immersed in the culture that I was ‘Style' to them, so when they thought, ‘cool, Style's writing a book.' They were excited to have their stories told.
What do you think about Mystery's show, Pick Up Artist?
It's great. There are many guys who want to attract women, but get intimidated. The show helps them without judgment. It shows guys that it's okay and common for men to be intimidated by women, and it's possible for them to get the girl.
Do you think your book and the show ruined 'the game' for guys?
No because the principles of attraction have remained the same throughout history. No one has said they're doing worse after my book and the show; in fact, I knew someone who was caught and ended up marrying the woman that called him out on it. If someone catches you, you can laugh it off and use as an opportunity to turn it into a discussion like, "Yeah, I was testing it out... do you think that stuff ever works??" They just have to display a good personality and be likable and they won't get rejected.
Now back to the new book...
Before writing Emergency, Neil began to imagine a worst-case-scenario society that most people only see in movies. He would have paranoid fantasies about natural disasters, crazed cult leaders, gun enthusiasts, murderers, weirdoes and ordinary citizens going off the grid, so he decided to take control of the situation the best way he knows how--learn survival straight from the pros.
Three years and many certificates, licenses and qualifications later, Strauss can survive in the wild with nothing but a knife and the clothes on his back. He can find water in the desert, extract drinkable fluids from the ocean, deliver a baby, fly a plane, pick locks, hot-wire cars, build homes, set traps, evade bounty hunters, suture a bullet wound, kill a man with his bare hands, and escape across the border with documents identifying him as the citizen of a small island republic. Not bad for a guy that used to be afraid of spiders!
What inspired you to write your new book, Emergency?
After 9/11 and Katrina, I really started thinking about how dangerous the world is and how unprepared I was to deal with disasters. I was a writer, I didn’t have any survival skills. It was really the realization and worry that anything can happen anywhere and anytime that brought me to doing this; I didn't want to feel helpless. I went through a six month EMT program and became an EMT—I learned CPR and first aid. I worked for the state’s search and rescue team. I was even at that big Metrolink accident last year. I went to the experts in different fields--billionaires, homeless people, expatriates, rescue workers, pilots, government intelligence officials...
9/11 was something that people never thought could happen to America, but there are so many things that we can't avoid--even in America. People need to learn how to take care of themselves independently from the system.
Wow, you even became a part of the search and rescue team? That's intense. What advice do you have for us regular citizens who aren’t able to get all the survival training you did?
At minimum, every household should store enough non-perishable food and water and a way to keep warm for seven days without utilities. Not many people know this, but your hot water tank holds 40 gallons of water, and though it sounds gross, the tank of your toilet is a source of water... not the bowl...
Have an evacuation plan and meeting place...
Prepare a go-to bag with copies of important documents, phone numbers, medications and first-aid materials...
Take a CPR class. It just takes a weekend and you learn a vital skill.
Also, a big earthquake is for sure to happen in California very soon, so be familiar with the "duck, cover, hold" technique. Contrary to what most have heard, DO NOT get in a doorway!
What are the key points you want people to take away from this book?
Just be prepared and learn to take care yourself. More than anything, this book is a fun story about becoming a man and learning how to take care of oneself. In life, the two most important things to an individual is to find a partner to spend his or her life with and being able to take care of loved ones.
Great info, so don't wait to pick up the book--it could save your life!
