The Pickup Artist: The New and Improved Art of Seduction    Compare

Note: If you are not familiar with the Mystery Method and its 10 years of evolution, see this Evolution of The Mystery Method infographic for an overview first.

This was another surprise product for me from Mystery. My feeling was that with the publication of so many Mystery Method courses now, there wasn't much else to add about Mystery Method.

They can do more work on putting some good DVDs out with video footage of seminars and infield video, there is a lot of space for improvement there. But for a book - I didn't think there was that gap.

A Story - Advice Manual Hybrid

You may find you get wrapped up in some of the cleverly planted storyline hooks in the story. So it ends up being quite an entertaining read beyond the fact that it contains pick up advice.

The Philosophy and Mindset of Mystery

It turns out there is. And the gap was conveying the real personality and philosophy behind Mystery. Providing you with a glimpse into how he thinks, what motivates him (important) and how he sees the world.

When I taught bootcamps many years ago one of the key questions that would come up with students was "Is this for me? Should I be doing this?". Sometimes half of the bootcamp would be conveying my philosophy about it all to the student. And I know that this is something that today, many coaches are doing with their students in field. Because it matters.

If you believe in what you are doing. It makes that difference. If you don't. If you have that hesitation about what you are doing. It can really be very detrimental to what you are trying to achieve with women.

So if you're a guy who likes the Mystery Method approach but feels some of that hesitation inside you, this is something that will help. Mystery is completely happy and content and a believer in what he is doing is right. And he conveys it all very clearly with many anecdotes, examples, metaphors and stories throughout this book. The real mindsets behind what he does are communicated.

In the last chapter, Mystery also admits to his own underlying flaws and how they motivate him. He talks about his need for women to support his happiness because of his ego and is very authentic about how he thinks and works. In reality, most men work this way - but they don't admit it. Mystery's admittance and explanation of these flaws will help you to connect with your own flaws and use them as he has done - or at least understand them better.

Note: Mystery's team attempted to convey more about the way Mystery thinks in the DVD product "Magnum Opus - Mind of Mystery" (no longer sold). At the time of its release (before we founded Dating Skills Review) I watched some of it and was disappointed. It came across as dry and I managed to watch just two parts of it before I stopped. I wasn't getting anything from it (keep in mind I've been in 'The Game' for 10 years). They had set it up as Mystery sitting around having discussions with women about the pick up arts. It didn't really hit the note. So, this is their second attempt to get a product out that effectively communicates 'The Mind of Mystery').

How Does The New Pick Up Artist Compare to Other Mystery Method Products?

I have seen a few very negative reviews for this book. The reason it got these is because people have bought it with false expectations about the content that weren't met. In part this is certainly due to the title "The Pickup Artist: The New and Improved Art of Seduction". It is misleading. There is nothing all that completely new in this book compared to other Mystery advice. I imagine that the publishers wanted to position the book amongst the other mass market books sold on the subject, like "The Game" and other works. In that context it can be said to be true from Mystery's point of view - but when you compare it against the market of dating advice you find on this site (primarily sold directly by the dating companies and not through publishers) it simply isn't.

Now, how to compare it to Venusian Arts' other products.

In the video products where you see Mystery teaching in seminars there is a lot of value in listening and watching him because he is charismatic and a good speaker. He believes in what he is saying, so those videos have always added more than the books about his methods. They show you who he is, his attitude, and in that way you can understand better how he does what is explained in the books.

So what has been done with this book is try to relate some of that value in book form, and in a more complete fashion. The subtleties of how he thinks about women, approaching and so on are communicated. Some great excerpts discuss areas such as how much effort you need to put in to get girls. How successful the best are such as him (no he doesn't get 100% of the women he approaches) and he explains how good you can get and the variables you are dealing with. He explains how he goes through 'dry spells' and how he gets past them.

If you are a guy who is obsessing about not getting every single girl you are after, then this could help you to get some perspective on that too.

I was surprised by this book because I'd been putting off reviewing it. I've read and watched all of the Mystery products and I was looking at it as a chore to just have to do. Surprise. I enjoyed this book (I listened to the audio book).

There was little new to me but I appreciated their efforts and the value of what they were doing with this book. I've heard or read 90% of it from Mystery in fragmented bits of everything I've learned from him over the years (from forum posts, his videos and his books). But having it all packaged up in one book, meant that who Mystery is and how his mind works with respect to women was communicated much more clearly.

Prerequisites to Reading the Book

Some of what is described and related in the book in some details is not fully explained technically. It's not a technical or concept definition book or a manual.

There is no details given on what to say, when to say it, in what sequence - and how these things attract women etc.

You can find these details in the most recent Mystery Method courses, all of them provide different takes, but are based on the same overall theories.

Another issue is that this book specifically refers to concepts that appear in Mystery's other books without explaining them. For instance the 'flame' and the 'ghost' are referred to but not fully described by the book. This is something you will only find in the Revelation book, so you will miss some of what is being discussed on that note.

Random Storylines Interrupt the Flow

Some of the storyline is pretty random - just depicting scenes from Project Miami and some discussions they had back then.

Some of it helps to convey the personalities and how they relate to women, and also elements of the social dynamics of the world we live in and other details that are useful about the way they run their lifestyle. For example, how situations and entrance to clubs and bars are socially engineered by the clubs and how some of the Hollyword house parties are run to attract women as well as how a celebrity does it. Interesting anecdotes.

However, some of it also seems to serve more to 'agrandiose' Mystery. You may find yourself thinking where is this going at times. I think the idea is a DHV (Mystery's term) to the readers. Letting them know how great Mystery is. So don't take it in too seriously - it's just scripted dialogue. There isn't that much of it.

It is Mystery's Method - Strong Bar and Club Focus

Mystery drums in his opinions about why you should only put effort into meeting women in bars and clubs. This is a bit narrow minded, so beware of this when you're listening to the chapter that covers this. It all depends on what type of women you are looking for - and he exaggerates the difficulty of meeting women in your everyday life and the odds. Mystery's specialty is the type of women that go to bars and clubs and bars and clubs are his specialty. It is normal that he focuses on that, but it doesn't mean that it is necessarily for everyone. Keep this in mind.

The Bottom Line

I enjoyed it for the most part. It's Mystery talking about his art with a lot of examples and analogies.

Some clarifications for people thinking of buying this.

First, it doesn't explain his full method like the most recent books and courses available on Mystery Method. AND they want to use this as an 'add on' to improve the details and subtleties of what they are doing after having put into practice the contents of a complete Mystery Method (MM) course.

It does give you a lot of insights into techniques and parts of what he does throughout, but I don't think it is the best way to learn about the 'method'. I see this more as an 'add on' for someone who has bought, read and been studying and putting into practice the contents of MM courses. I wouldn't suggest getting this book on its own and trying to implement it.

Second, there is another side of the coin. If you are interested in Mystery and still unsure about this whole pick up artist thing, and what Mystery does. Is it for you? Then I think this is a great book for you. By reading it you'll know whether or not it is for you. Whether you can accept or take on the mindsets and philosophy of life (and women of course) that Mystery adheres to and proposes. So, in that situation I'd say buy this before you buy anything else about Mystery - find out if it's for you before you get more involved with any other of his products.