{"id":1866,"date":"2013-02-21T08:21:37","date_gmt":"2013-02-21T13:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/antipaucity.com\/?p=1866"},"modified":"2013-02-21T08:21:37","modified_gmt":"2013-02-21T13:21:37","slug":"the-art-of-seduction-by-robert-greene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/merikebi.warrenmyers.com\/?p=1866","title":{"rendered":"the art of seduction by robert greene"},"content":{"rendered":"

Warning:<\/h4>\n

This book contains, in places, intense terminology, and is directed at mentally-mature audiences<\/p>\n

Now back to our regularly-scheduled bog post<\/h4>\n

After having read {{The 48 Laws of Power}} (and enjoying it), I decided to read some of {{Robert Greene}}’s other popular works. So, I read<\/a> {{Mastery}}.<\/p>\n

And then I read {{The Art of Seduction}}.<\/p>\n

(I haven’t read his work {{The 33 Strategies of War}} – but it’s in my queue. I anticipate, perhaps wrongly, that it will be very similar to {{Sun Tzu}}’s {{The Art of War}} (which I reviewed<\/a> then\u00a0reprinted<\/a> hereon); but I’ll have to wait until I’ve read it to know for sure.)<\/p>\n

This book strays quite a bit from Greene’s core strengths, in my opinion, ranging into an arena of thought and action that feels far more “reported upon” than “acted upon”. Maybe it’s just how I had gotten used to his previous style (or, at least, his style in the books of his I read previously), but I liked this book the least.<\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  1. Part One – The Seductive Character<\/span>\n
      \n
    1. The Siren<\/li>\n
    2. The Rake<\/li>\n
    3. The Ideal Lover<\/li>\n
    4. The Dandy<\/li>\n
    5. The Natural<\/li>\n
    6. The Coquette<\/li>\n
    7. The Charmer<\/li>\n
    8. The Charismatic<\/li>\n
    9. The Star<\/li>\n
    10. The Anti-Seducer<\/li>\n
    11. The Seducer’s Victims – The Eighteen Types<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
    12. Part Two – The Seductive Process\n
        \n
      1. Phase One: Separation – Stirring Interest and Desire\n
          \n
        1. Choose the Right Victim<\/li>\n
        2. Create a False Sense of Security – Approach Indirectly<\/li>\n
        3. Send Mixed Signals<\/li>\n
        4. Appear to be an Object of Desire – Create Triangles<\/li>\n
        5. Create a Need – Stir Anxiety and Discontent<\/li>\n
        6. Master the Art of Insinuation<\/li>\n
        7. Enter Their Spirit<\/li>\n
        8. Create Temptations<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
        9. Phase Two: Lead Astray – Creating Pleasure and Confusion\n
            \n
          1. Keep Them in Suspense – What Comes Next?<\/li>\n
          2. Use the Demonic Power of Words to Sow Confusion<\/li>\n
          3. Pay Attention to Detail<\/li>\n
          4. Poeticize Your Presence<\/li>\n
          5. Disarm Through Strategic Weakness and Vulnerability<\/li>\n
          6. Confuse Desire and Reality – The Perfect Illusion<\/li>\n
          7. Isolate the Victim<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
          8. Phase Three: The Precipice – Deepening the Effect Through Extreme Measures\n
              \n
            1. Prove Yourself<\/li>\n
            2. Effect a Regression<\/li>\n
            3. Stir up the Transgressive and Taboo<\/li>\n
            4. Use Spiritual Lures<\/li>\n
            5. Mix Pleasure with Pain<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
            6. Phase Four: Moving in for the Kill\n
                \n
              1. Give Them Space to Fail – The Pursuer is Pursued<\/li>\n
              2. Use Physical Lures<\/li>\n
              3. Master the Art of the Bold Move<\/li>\n
              4. Beware the Aftereffects<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
              5. Appendix A: Seductive Environment \/ Seductive Time<\/li>\n
              6. Appendix B: Soft Seduction: How to Sell Anything to the Masses<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n

                Skip all of the sketchy, individually manipulative material – and there’s nothing left to the book except some dry reporting … and an acknowledgements page that includes two cats and his parents.<\/p>\n

                I do still love the layout used in all of {{Robert Greene}}’s books (maybe it’s a “{{Joost Elffers Book}}” thing?) – with abstracts under each chapter title in the table of contents, callouts\/sidebars in the margins and funkified*<\/sup> typesetting for emphasis in many places.<\/p>\n