The game

According to Strauss, the clandestine society of men he describes here take wagers in clubs and bars throughout the Western world over just who can chalk up the most Casanova-like quantities of pickups and seductions. But this isn't merely for the thrill of an army of sexual conquests -- all of this is coded and organised according to an almost military-style ritual, with an elaborate series of rules and regulations that the participants rigorously follow. Strauss went undercover in this glamorous world, and learned the secrets of these top-drawer seducers. But, for him, there was a useful corollary affect: Strauss found himself transformed from a nerdish, unconfident journalist into a silver-tongued Lothario, quite the equal of many of the ladykilling males he had been enjoying the company of. For him, the ultimate accolade was being noted The World's Number One Pickup Artist -- and then he made the mistake of setting his sights on a woman who could give every bit as good as she got.

The world of excess presented here is not one most of us move in, but (if the truth were told) it has its irresistible attractions. Strauss wheels in such celebrities as Tom Cruise and Courtney Love, and this unblushing peek into a secret world where sex and seduction are treated with cool scientific detachment is mesmerisingly readable. --Barry Forshaw