Person
Neil Strauss's book recommendations
Key facts
- Neil Strauss has recommended or discussed 7 books on podcasts, as of May 27, 2024.
- Neil Strauss has talked about books on 2 podcasts, as of May 27, 2024.
- Those books came up in 2 episodes, as of May 27, 2024.
- The 3 books Neil Strauss has mentioned in the most episodes, as of May 27, 2024: Ask the Dust, Hunger and Last Exit to Brooklyn.
- The latest episode with a book mention from Neil Strauss aired on May 27, 2024.
Updated
Across 2 podcasts. Every show Neil Strauss appears on, in one place — not just one.
Neil Strauss’s most recommended books
- Ask the Dust by John Fante
- Hunger by Knut Hamsun
- Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby, Jr.
- Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
- The Stranger, The Plague (Coles Notes) by Albert Camus
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Neil Darrow Strauss, also known by the pen names Style and Chris Powles, is an American author and journalist best known for his book The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists, which describes his experiences in the seduction community. He is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone and has written regularly for The New York Times. Speaking on podcasts such as How I Write and Modern Wisdom, Strauss discussed his literary tastes and writing influences. He strongly recommended John Fante's Ask the Dust, describing it as one of his favorite books ever. In discussing the mechanics of writing, he analyzed compelling opening lines from George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Albert Camus's The Stranger, and Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God to illustrate how authors hook a reader and establish tone. Furthermore, Strauss referenced Hubert Selby Jr.'s Last Exit to Brooklyn to discuss unconventional punctuation and stylistic expression, and mentioned Knut Hamsun's novel Hunger while exploring literary influences.
Books recommended by Neil Strauss
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Ask the Dust
John Fante's celebrated novel captures the grit, struggles, and desperation of a young, aspiring writer navigating the harsh realities of Depression-era Los Angeles.
Recommended“I love John Fante's Ask the Dust. It's one of my favorite books ever. Do you know that book? No. It's great. You've got to read it.”
Where to get it
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Hunger
Hunger is a classic psychological novel by Knut Hamsun that chronicles the desperate experiences of a starving writer wandering through the streets of Christiania, the old name for Oslo.
Discussed“And there's an older work by Norwegian writer called Knut Hamsun called Hunger, and I think that's what John Fante took for his thing.”
Where to get it
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Last Exit to Brooklyn
Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr.
Discussed“There's another writer named Hubert Selby, the same genre though, but who wrote Last Exit to Brooklyn, and his typewriter was broken.”
Where to get it
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Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel depicting a totalitarian regime characterized by extreme surveillance, psychological manipulation, and the rewriting of history.
Discussed“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. And it's such a good line because you're like, wait, what?”
Where to get it
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The Game
The Game by Neil Strauss is a non-fiction book that investigates the secretive subculture of pickup artists and dating strategy.
Discussed“The interesting thing about apps I find so fascinating, I met one of the this what I met one of the co-founders of Tinder reached out to me, and he says, you know, part of the reason we started this app was because I read The Game, and I thought, oh, that's so much work.”
Where to get it
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The Stranger, The Plague (Coles Notes)
The Stranger by Albert Camus is a foundational philosophical novel that explores themes of existentialism, absurdism, and alienation through the experiences of its protagonist, Meursault.
Discussed“Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday; I can't be sure. It's great. It's so good. It's so good.”
Where to get it
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Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston's classic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God tells the impactful story of Janie Crawford and her journey toward self-realization and independence in the American South.
Discussed“Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. What does that mean to you? Right, it makes you go... That's interesting.”
Where to get it
Books by Neil Strauss
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The Game
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Emergency
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How to Make Love Like a Porn Star
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Rules of the Game
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I Can't Make This Up
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The Truth
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Marilyn Manson
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Everyone loves you when you're dead
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Don't Try This at Home
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How to Make Money Like a Porn Star
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The Dirt
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Everyone Is a Suspect
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Truth About Women & Relationships - Neil Strauss, World's #1 Pickup Artist | Modern Wisdom | 2024-05-27 | 1 |
| Has He Cracked The Bestseller Formula? | Neil Strauss | How I Write Podcast | How I Write | 2024-03-27 | 6 |
Other mentions (2: passing, ad reads, own books)
“So the first book obviously not the first book I think it's my it's my third or fourth. But The Game was probably the most infamous one which is me trying to figure out dating and being in this world of and and being fascinated by this world of these pickup artists and the all the social implications of that”
“meaning that by the way in between those I did a book which feels like tragically relevant now called emergency which is really about learning some the other skill of survival.”