Oh I own it and tried to read it, but was not a fan.

As for storytelling, best way to be a good storyteller is to read good stories!

Can you suggest any book for losing the fear, approaching fear. I have been around for sometime, but it’s still there. Also, any books on storytelling?

There are a few Roosh-a-philes that showed for the last HH, and I am very interested to know if they’ll show again.

Shots are on INPY. =)

Please don’t mistake. It’s not in my nature to go back and forth via anonymous postings.

It’s all better served up with cocktails and karaoke.

I don’t pretend to have an interest in engaging myself in a battle of wits with you. Nor did I comment in hopes of changing your mind. I’m aware that you’re an intelligent person… but your vast generalizations about the female gender in both your first and second comments are, just that.. generalizations.

And if you go back and reread my comment – you’ll see that I never accused you of stating that reading fiction was a waste of time.

“women can afford to waste valuable reading time in the fantasy world of fiction”

Your words, not mine.

Thoreau was a pompous twat. And not one but two Chomsky books is sure to cause some long term logic damage. At least you didn’t throw Pirsig’s drivel in there.

Average Jane – “I kind of think that I secretly wish there was a site for girls that does what you and Roosh are trying to do for men.” Since I’m pretty sure Roissy and Roosh are writing this to convince men to stop being sissies and grow some stones, I have a feeling a site for women with the same goal would be an awfully burly, sweaty place. I mean, if that’s your bag, c’est la vie.

strawman, meet blustery indignation. i never said fiction reading was a complete waste of time; i said for a time efficient way to understand the world around you you are better served reading certain works of non-fiction. and men, pressed into action as they are by their climbing the walls horniness to get laid as often and as broadly as possible, would learn more valuable info more quickly about the operations of the female mind by reading ‘mean genes’ than reading romeo & juliet.

that is not to say one wouldn’t gain profound insight into the human condition through shakespeare. after all, the man did practically invent the written personality. but that kind of learning takes time and isn’t immediately applicable in the way that, say, reading ‘the moral animal’ is when you learn why women are drawn to men with bigger jawlines during their ovulation or why they dig jerks.

and while i’ve no doubt the majority of women bloggers have leafed through a few dog-eared copies of “real lit-rah-chure” let’s be honest about what i mean when i say women have the luxury of pissing time away in fiction — 99% of them are doing it with pulp romance novels, the female equivalent of pR0n, and it isn’t hurting their lay ratio at all. women can afford to be ignorant about the workings of the male mind because men will pursue no matter what.

the female gender, prior childbirth, is the leisurely gender. her job, in the evolutionary sense, is to look good. that requires some effort, but not nearly the scale of effort men have to put in to succeed at enlisting women to help pass on their own genes. that is why it is no accident that men’s reading lists lean heavily into non-fiction with realworld practical advice.

“to suggest that true insight to the “female” mind can be garnered from Desclos or Austen, leads me to imagine you know very little about the female mind.”

nom de plumes are so much sexier than your dry summoning of her real name.
who better to reveal the true nature of women than a woman herself? reage was a successful, intelligent woman who, it was rumored, was paid hush money by powerful french politicians of the time to keep accounts of their debauchery at the famed “fictional” chateau out of any interviews she might grant the press.
she never gave an interview. her life, her loves, her brandings, remain something of a mystery to this day.
even if ’story of O’ were nothing more than the sexual fantasy it advertises itself as, it’s nonetheless a fantasy that shows how even a beautiful, seemingly self-possessed and powerful woman yearns to be dominated by a strong man. these sexual fantasies of women, like rape fantasies, lets the reader get inside their heads and see what turns them on. sir stephen is the archetypical jerk who got O to submit to anything….
and she loved him, and herself, for it.
men can learn from this.
oh yeah, and 9 1/2 weeks by mcniell is pretty good too. also rumored to be true.

Great list, I plan to work thru each one by one.

Experience 10 “punk rock” text-message tours, part of this DC is the “Capitol of Punk” movement. [Capitol of Punk] “Take even the lowest level Hill staffer out, pour some vodka into him, and you’re guaranteed to com…

I agree with Mandy-Speakeasy. Being a reader/writer entails reading literature and not just self-help…it is a way to expand your imagination and empathy gene for all people.

Roissy–While this is a wonderful list of mostly non-fiction, the true joy in reading lies in reading fiction(for me). It is an escape to another world, allowing you to immerse yourself in someone else’s story/experience/life.

I have loved reading since I was a child–so no…it has nothing to do with having “time”…its a passion…something that gives me joy.

If you are a reader, you are a READER…reading non-fiction can be fascinating but its basically work when for me–the joy in reading is not having to work, just reading.

And by the way–I hate chick lit so don’t even go there.

In terms of nonfiction though, The Tipping Point is a great, fast read.

And I’d have to disagree with Roissy. Snark or not, that’s a pretty uneducated statement. Literature (particularly fiction) is a direct representation of culture and tradition. The reading (as well as the study) of it expands our worldview and allows us to witness different aspects of the world, fragments in time, as well as gain a deeper understanding of the human condition. The English canon covers everything from Woolf to Dostoevsky. You present a very limited view. And to suggest that true insight to the “female” mind can be garnered from Desclos or Austen, leads me to imagine you know very little about the female mind.

Interestingly enough, in a time where we are so uniquely able to access the written word – the fine line between fiction and reality is even more blurred than it ever has been. Hello blogging! Take for example the issue of James Frey’s “memoir,” A Million Little Pieces. Or perhaps even Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. Regarded by some as the first true English novel. It’s found in the fiction section of your local library. Upon further inspection however, one might discover in addition to being a fictionalized account of a castaway it’s also autobiographical and gives a pretty accurate historical account of the beginnings of globalization, colonization, and slavery both in South America and Africa.

It surprises me that anyone would deem having knowledge of such things, or the reading of them, as strictly “fantastical.”

Sorry to take up the comment box Roosh. But seriously, check out Coelho. Especially if you’ll be taking this one way ticket journey.

for fiction that is not so fictional.

Good book list. “Freakonomics” is great. I want to read “Mean Genes” because evolutionary psychology is fascinating…have you ever read “Survival of the Prettiest?” VERY interesting.

i dig finding out about books that i normally wouldn’t come across – which is most books, i guess. and someone has done the hard work, already. like having ‘cool music’ friends who weed out a lot of the crapola when u don’t have time.

the inherent ‘conflict’ between the chomsky books and the ‘manipulate people/power’ (48 Laws, 7 Habits) books is interesting, too.

regarding a ‘change your life to change the world’ stance, for my $$, ‘Understanding Power’ is the best of the lot – at least of those i’ve read or am familiar with.

http://www.understandingpower.com/