If you read Gawker, or just like to mack on the ladies, you probably know that a Village Voice writer is in a heap of trouble for fabricating portions of a story based on The Game, Neil Strauss's actually very funny book about the totally creepy subculture of "pick up artists." Today there's an added wrinkle in the form of a bitter freelancer (and speaking as one, is there any other kind?) who says she pitched a similar story to the Voice first.
But for my money, the best article about The Game � even weirder than the made-up one � remains Lucas Hanft's first-person adventure [jpg] for the September issue of Radar. Coincidentally, this story also originated with a pitch from a different writer, Neal Pollack, whose idea was to test Strauss's contention that the techniques of The Game work for anyone by attempting to digest them in a single sitting (rather than months of training) and then trying them out in his guise as a pathetic middle-aged father (his words, more or less, exaggerated for comic effect, of course). I thought the idea was hilarious, which Neal apparently wasn't expecting since when I got back to him, he said his wife would never let him do it.
Fortunately Neal was nice enough to hand over the idea (I think we even paid him a finder's fee, which is probably why Radar went under) and I gave it to Lucas, who, while neither pathetic nor middle-aged, is, let's say, not exactly Rico Suave. The results were golden. Poor Lucas was shot down, laughed at, and ignored by every hot chick in Manhattan. And shoved by at least one boyfriend. Frankly he showed a kind of courage I never could have. But what makes the piece work (in addition to my masterful editing, natch) is not just Lucas's string of failures but the deadpan way he highlights everything that is most ridiculous about these pick-up techniques. I dare you to come away from reading this [jpg] without wondering how this could work for anybody. Update: Lucas also worked from the PUA's founding document, The Layguide, which is free if you want to get a taste of just how wacky this can get.
Fans of Radariana will please also note that this piece was designed during one of the low points in our art director rollercoaster, and is quite likely the worst illustration ever to appear in the magazine, especially when you think about the possiblities there.
Oh, and Lucas's line on Voice fabulist Nick Sylvester: "I thought Pitchfork writers only made up musical genres."
