>>7277856>The last paragraph from Chapter 1:>Neil Strauss, aka "Style", contemplates attending his first seminar under the tutelage of Mystery, who would later become his mentor, friend, and colleague.. Arguably the second most important person in the entire book:In my e-mail to Mystery, I didn't tell him my last name or my occupation. If pressed, I planned to just say I was a writer and leave it at that. I wanted to move through this subculture anonymously, without either an advantage or extra pressure because of my credentials.
However, I still had my own conscience to deal with. This was, far and away, the most pathetic thing I'd ever done in my life. And unfortunately- as opposed to, say, masturbating in the shower- it wasn't something I could do alone. Mystery and the other students would be there to bear witness to my shame, my secret, my inadequacy.
A man has two primary drives in early adulthood: one towards power, success, and accomplishment; the other toward love, companionship, and sex. Half of life then was out of order. To go before them was to stand up as a man and admit that I was only half a man.
