In dozens of cities around the world, men meet in underground “lairs” to discuss tactics and strategies for picking up women. Afterwards, they venture into the “field”—bars and clubs—and practice, questing after the holy grail: the perfect girl. Under a pseudonym, New York Times bestselling author Neil Strauss ventured into this bizarre subculture, traveling around the world and meeting the world’s greatest seducers, men who claim to have found the combination to unlock a woman’s legs—and her heart. There is Ross Jefferies, a master hypnotist on whom Tom Cruise’s Magnolia character was based; Mystery, an illusionist who charms showgirls and celebrities; Rick H., a millionaire who turns straight-laced women into bisexual party girls; and Randall P., a spiritualist so powerful that women actually pay him to learn how to better pleasure him.

The Game chronicles Strauss’s adventures (and misadventures) undercover in this clandestine world of men who refuse to let traditional rules of dating doom them to unfulfilled lives. Along the way, there are riveting, and often disturbing, profiles of the men who have dedicated their lives to the game—and disciples who will stop at nothing to learn from them. The Game is a journey into a world that most women fear and most men dream of.