Post: #126

"Magic Bullets" - Savoy. Introduction into the game community. It was the first book I read that taught me about the technical "how to" with bedding girls along with some evolutionary psychology about women.


"The Manipulated Man" - esther villar. That was one bitter pill.

Post: #127

I’ll go waaayyy back to the first book that sparked my imagination—Doctor Doolittle. I used to sit in the back of the library as a nine-year old boy, captivated by Hugh Lofting’s imaginative world. Those books turned me into a reader. Perhaps more importantly, they sparked my imagination about what could be, as opposed to what was.

Lofting’s work has always stayed with me on that level—his sense of creativity, mystery and humor.

Strangely enough, as I’ve gotten older, the “real” world now seems more bizarre than Doctor Doolittle.

Post: #128

Rich Dad Poor Dad by a long shot. It did more than give me a look on the "Other Side" it changed my whole view on money. It allowed me to finally accept the crazy idea that money doesn't exist and that it can be created out of thin air. This was a novel concept to me at the time.

Post: #129

"Crazy From the Heat" by David Lee Roth, "Think And Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill and "Tropic of Capricorn" by Henry Miller.

Post: #130

Two books changed my life.

First, The Shadow of the Wind and the eccentric character of Fermin Romero de Torres. This guy helped me understand better the man-woman dynamic and how a man should always take the initiative.

The second book that changed my life, in a more profound way is The Game.

It was less than a year ago at the start of the fall semester, I was sitting in the library preparing for my classes as usual. After an hour of studying I took a break and I went wandering on the internet looking for tips on women and stuff like that. I stumbled upon a book called the Game. I directly went on the national library website to see if it was available. It said it was. I packed all my stuff and took the subway to borrow it.

Two days later I had read it and wrote all the pick up lines down on my Iphone notes.

Post: #131

For me, my life has been changed significantly over time from multiple books, each contributing a little to the change. Rather than list all of them here (many are already mentioned in this thread in any case) I'll just give the most recent one:

The Middle Passage: From Misery to Meaning in Mid-Life
James Hollis

The title sounds depressing, and it may appear to only be relevant to men in middle age, but I believe it has value for men of any age.

With a basis in Jungian Psychology (which I subscribe to), the book delivers an interpretation of the "mid-life crisis" as merely a transition from an ego-driven life to a self-driven one.
I found it massively helpful and a ton of the content resonated with me.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47849...le_Passage

Post: #132

This is going to sound weird but the book that changed my life was written by the Rabbi who supposedly invented speed dating. I now relate to women differently and have moved out of the US. I was going through a rough divorce and turning 50 and couldn't figure out why things didn't work out with my ex since we had so much in common, she was smart and good looking.

Speed Dating: The Smarter, Faster Way to Lasting Love

It is not the speed part that changed my life, it was the underlying philosophy. His basic idea is that people pick each other for the wrong reasons such as:
- looks
- intelligence,
- hobbies, etc

What they should focus on is goals. He believes that there should be a big overlap in the couple's goals and that there should be a dynamic where each one is helping the other achieve his or her goals. In other words, a true partnership. By the end of 3 months if you don't know each others goals and aren't helping each other achieve them, then immediately get out.

Bingo. That was the answer as to why my marriage didn't work and I left it. She had no real interest in helping me achieve my goals or whether I even met them unless they were of service to her. I was a means to an end for her. A sperm bank with a checkbook. I then used this philosophy to screening out women and realized that women where I lived viewed relationships like shopping. they don't care if the store benefited from their patronage. They simply wanted a good deal on something they wanted. That was how they approached men.

I came to the realization that unless I dramatically dropped my standards, I was not going to find a woman like this where I lived. That in turn helped lead me into pursuing a lifelong desire to go explore the world and I moved out of the US.

I have banged a lot of women since then but have never found one that both interested me and where the dynamic I want is taking place. I at least think it is possible overseas. In the US far less likely.

https://www.amazon.com/Speed-Dating-Smar...0066212553

Post: #133

Shakespeare's plays.

Post: #134

Jesus Never Existed by Kenneth Humphries.

Post: #135

I'm ashamed to admit I'm not half the reader I want to be.

But three of the books that have affected my life the greatest are Meditations, The Millionaire Next Door, and How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Roosh and others have written a ton on Meditations, so many RVF guys probably know it. If I were to write a tweet-length summary on it, it's basically a manual on how to not let your life and mind be governed by bullshit.

The Millionaire Next Door was a fantastic one. It's almost a Stoic tome specifically on personal finance, backed with statistics. I know many guys of my age bracket (late 20s through mid 30s) who basically ignore their student loan debt and rack up more debt on useless Millennial bullshit. Be aware of yourself, understand your desires, then master them.

How to Win Friends and Influence People was recommended to me by an old boss who realized that I was great at my job, and occasionally charming, but had prickly, weird computer-nerd tendencies. In many regards, he turned out to be a beta simp, but I say that not out of contempt, but sadness. I respect him for what he taught me. This book is basically a manual on how many of the great and powerful men in history got others to follow them, with some accounts from those men and their confidantes and followers.

Post: #136

Atlas Shrugged -Ayn Rand

Post: #137

The book that opened my eyes to everything was actually the 2nd Mystery Method book, I think it was called Revelations or something like that. I was clueless as to social dynamics before I read that book, and it made me view the world in a completely different way. It's not one of the big name pua books but for whatever reason, it was the first one I read. Something just clicked at that point and it had ramifications all throughout my life.

Also, different books from the Bible have to be included in this answer too. Particularly wisdom books like Ecclesiastes.

Also, 1984. I have always been right wing, even as a young kid, but that book instilled in me a libertarian streak and solidified exactly why it was that government is as bad as we say it is.

Post: #138

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

Post: #139

robert greenes - 48 laws of power , laws of seduction , 44 strategies of war

Post: #140

- 48 Laws of Power: gave a glance into the harshness of reality
- Gorilla Mindset: how to maintain a positive attitude to things that come your way (be it women, work, other goals, etc), really gave me the mindset of abundance (which not only applies to women but to other areas of life too)
- 7 Habits of Effective People: only read the first 3 chapters since it's based on how to structure yourself internally, has some great actionable plans that you can easily implement to make your actions more effective
- Letters from a Stoic: really solidified most of my other readings and redpill thinking, particularly enjoyed Letter XLI, a must-read for all men

Post: #141

"A Century of War" by John V. Denson

Post: #142

The Book Of Pook

Post: #143

Rich Dad Poor Dad (Robert Kiyosaki), a great book on putting your money to work for you.

The Manual: What Women Want and How to Give it to Them (W. Anton), a great book on masculine dominance.

The Paleo Manifesto (John Durant), a great book on staying healthy in a very unhealthy environment.

The Compound Effect (Darren Hardy), a great book on accomplishing goals.

The four books above should be required reading for everyone.

Post: #144

Gorilla Mindset by Mike Cernovich

Post: #145

Jesus Never Existed by Kenneth Humphries.

Post: #146

One that comes to mind.
Eckhart Tolle- The Power of Now

Post: #147

Its too bad his infomercial image has overpowered the content of his work because it ts the real deal

Post: #148

The Grapes of Wrath

Post: #149

Atlas Shrugged and other Ayn Rand stuff, but in retrospect it was not for the better.

I've found somewhat of an antidote in Jack Donovan's The Way of Men and especially Becoming a Barbarian. The latter has really changed my way of thinking.

Post: #150

A Place for You (1968) by Paul Tournier. Gay I know, but I was coming off a divorce, pretty insecure, just stopped going to church (because that's what I *should* do), and dealing with some really serious Christian childhood stuff. This book peeled away the veneer of my theology, which wasn't far off what I believe now (and validated by the likes of Jordan Peterson), and grounded me again in Christianity.

One of the fundamentals from the book is premature abdication. Teaching children what they should and should not do because of God or Jesus or just using shame. The problem later in life being that they don't really know how to be charitable or to give as Christ gave. They just know they *should* give. It's like they never read about the Old Testament God.

Art of Loving (1956) by Erich Fromm. Gay again, I know. This has to be one of the best psychological books ever written. I read the book post divorce when my belief in Christianity was fading into more of a story of humanity. It reiterated my "theology" with the same foundation (Old/New Testament God, masculine/feminine), but manifested as more of a philosophy/psychology. The existence of God and the validity of the story of Christ were less important than the overall message.

I think when the crushing weigh of divorce hit and my experiences weren't fitting into my worldview...well I think this book allowed me to reshape my previous perspective (since childhood) into a more mature, more informed philosophy.

Quote:...
When man is born, the human race as well as the individual, he is thrown out of a situation which was definite, as definite as the instincts, into a situation which is indefinite, uncertain and open. There is certainty only about the past— and about the future only as far as that it is death.

Man is gifted with reason; he is life being aware of itself; he has awareness of himself, of his fellow man, of his past, and of the possibilities of his future. This awareness of himself as a separate entity, the awareness of his own short life span, of the fact that without his will he is born and against his will he dies, that he will die before those whom he loves, or they before him, the awareness of his aloneness and separateness, of his helplessness before the forces of nature and of society, all this makes his separate, disunited existence an unbearable prison. He would become insane could he not liberate himself from this prison and reach out, unite himself in some form or other with men, with the world outside.

The experience of separateness arouses anxiety; it is, indeed, the source of all anxiety. Being separate means being cut off, without any capacity to use my human powers. Hence to be separate means to be helpless, unable to grasp the world—things and people—actively; it means that the world can invade me without my ability to react. Thus, separateness is the source of intense anxiety. Beyond that, it arouses shame and the feeling of guilt. This experience of guilt and shame in separateness is expressed in the Biblical story of Adam and Eve. After Adam and Eve have eaten of the "tree of knowledge of good and evil," after they have disobeyed (there is no good and evil unless there is freedom to disobey), after they have become human by having emancipated themselves from the original animal harmony with nature, i.e., after their birth as human beings—they saw "that they were naked—and they were ashamed." Should we assume that a myth as old and elementary as this has the prudish morals of the nineteenth-century outlook, and that the important point the story wants to convey to us is the embarrassment that their genitals were visible? This can hardly be so, and by understanding the story in a Victorian spirit, we miss the main point, which seems to be the following: after man and woman have become aware of themselves and of each other, they are aware of their separateness, and of their difference, inasmuch as they belong to different sexes. But while recognizing their separateness they remain strangers, because they have not yet learned to love each other (as is also made very clear by the fact that Adam defends himself by blaming Eve, rather than by trying to defend her). The awareness of human separation, without reunion by love—is the source of shame. It is at the same time the source of guilt and anxiety.

The deepest need of man, then, is the need to overcome his separateness, to leave the prison of his aloneness. The absolute failure to achieve this aim means insanity, because the panic of complete isolation can be overcome only by such a radical withdrawal from the world outside that the feeling of separation disappears—because the world outside, from which one is separated, has disappeared.

Sorry about all the God/Christian/philosophical content.

The Game may have changed my life more than anything. It was right after those two books, right after my ex and I separated, perfect fateful timing. But you all know that one.