Neil Strauss is a journalist and author based in Los Angeles.

Work

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Neil Strauss was a co-writer or ghostwriter of several books for various celebrities, including The Long Hard Road Out of Hell with Marilyn Manson, The Dirt with Mötley Crüe, A Cautionary Tale with Jenna Jameson, and Don't Try This At Home with Dave Navarro. He was a music critic at The New York Times, where he wrote the influential Pop Life column, and has written Rolling Stone cover stories on Kurt Cobain, Madonna, Tom Cruise, Orlando Bloom, the Wu-Tang Clan, and Gwen Stefani.

After leaving the New York Times to ghostwrite the memoir of porn star Jenna Jameson, Strauss authored Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists (Regan Books, 2005) ISBN 0060554738, a book about a sub-culture of pick-up artists known as the seduction community. It was received with ridicule in the New York Times Book Review, which wrote "Strauss toggles awkwardly between this kind of misogyny and limp bids at self-awareness" Following the mocking review, the book has made a brief appearance in the New York Times Best Seller list in September-October 2005 and reached the #1 position on Amazon.com, immediately after its release in the United States.

Neil Strauss and the Seduction Community

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In the seduction community, Strauss is known by the pseudonym "Style". One year after he had joined the community, he published an article in the New York Times about his experiencesNeil Strauss: "He Aims! He Shoots! Yes!!" The New York Times, January 25, 2004. Some in the seduction community referred to Neil as "Most Powerful of the Jedi," based upon his reputation for picking up exceptionally beautiful women. Strauss abandoned his pickup artist's lifestyle and settled with a long-term girlfriend Lisa Leveridge, who plays guitar in Courtney Love's all-female band The Chelsea.Emma Forrest: "All the right moves." The Observer, September 11, 2005

At the end of 2005, Strauss passed his knowledge, which he has titled the "Annihilation Method", to 5 selected followers at a three-day seminar at his California home. He recently sold 375 exclusive copies of the "Annihilation Method" program to those who arrived first on his website, only375.com.

The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists

In The Game, Strauss tells the tale of his transformation into "Style," a pickup artist under the tutelage of Mystery, a guru widely known as "the world's greatest pick up artist". The book charts two years in his life. In addition to documenting his experiences with pickup artists like Mystery and Ross Jeffries, it also describes his interactions with celebrities including Britney Spears, Tom Cruise, and Courtney Love. Strauss writes of his distrust of pickup artists "Tyler Durden" and "Papa," the founders of Real Social Dynamics. In promoting his book, Neil appeared on various TV shows, including ABC Primetime. Video of Neil Strauss on ABC Primetime Live

Stylelife Challenge

On May 31, 2006 through Neil Strauss' VIP mailing list Neil announced the Stylelife Challenge The challenge is for those who have trouble with women to get a date in 31 days or less. During the entire month of July, 2006 participants will be given daily challenges on the Stylelife website[http://stylelife.com/. These challenges are designed to help men change their look and overcome their fears and hopefully get a date within the allotted time limit. While the primary goal simply remains for participants to get a date the most improved will win a prize that has not been announced yet but according to the Stylelife website "It involves an airplane."

References

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See also

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• Mystery Method
• Ghostwriter

Writers | Music writers | Living people