The Art of Seduction

The Art of Seduction Review

Seduction is not an intentional process. As a matter of fact, intent is opposed to seduction by default. The conscious mind is seduction's worst enemy. I am surprised that Greene cites Baudrillard on seduction, when Jean Baudrillard deplores the fact that the natural play of seduction is now almost gone from our lives, being increasingly replaced by simulation, which is precisely the work of the mind.

Aside from grossly mistaking the nature of seduction, Greene's book is brilliant. It delineates with great accuracy the process of simulation, although the author thinks he is describing seduction.

Nothing that is truly yours can be conquered. Anything that can indeed be conquered is not yours and will not stay with you even as you get it and own it. There are things that simply cannot be "had" because it is in their nature to escape our grasp. The firmer the grip, the greater the dissatisfaction. It is the "revenge of the object," as Baudrillard would say. The struggle to obtain something gives victory a sour taste, which comes from the realization that it has not come to you naturally, but was lured towards a "you" that does not really exist, hence the touch of loneliness all the way to the end.

You can't have your cake and eat it, too. Except for seduction, of course, which is our natural ability to fall for what is always, already our own. But if one doesn't want to fall that deep into the darkness and is afraid to be with himself, he's welcome to read Greene's book and will probably find it a technique well worth falling for. However, at some point, the tables will be turned...

The Art of Seduction Overview

Robert Greene's previous bestseller, The 48 Laws of Power, distilled 3,000 years of scheming into a guide People praised as "beguiling... literate... fascinating" and Kirkus denounced as "an anti-Book of Virtues."

In Art of Seduction, Greene returns with a new instruction book on the most subtle, elusive, and effective form of power—because seduction isn't really about sex. It's about manipulating other people's greatest weakness: their desire for pleasure.

Synthesizing the work of thinkers including Freud, Diderot, Nietzsche, and Einstein, reporting the enticing strategies of characters throughout history, The Art of Seduction is a comprehensive guide to getting what we want—any way we can.

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Seduction in Death (In Death #13)

Seduction in Death (In Death #13) Review

Well, last time I read this, I gave it 5 stars, but I didn't write any notes about it, so I'm not really sure if I liked it more, or if it's just a case of ratings inflation that happens once in a while.

NYPSD homicide lieutenant Eve Dallas is up against a pair of killers this time, loosely based, I believe, on a real story from some years ago. It's two privileged young men (this isn't a spoiler--we know this from the beginning) who are playing a game, seducing and killing women they've selected through internet chat rooms.

Because we know whodunit from the beginning, it's not so much a mystery as it is horror. It's horrifying because it seems so real, and because you know there are people out there whose minds work the way these killers' minds do. Eve also twigs to the two-killer thing right away, so it's more like watching a chase than watching the slow unraveling of clues. It's an effective story, don't get me wrong--it's just different. Which is a good thing in a series as long-running as this one. Seduction in Death, by the way, is the 15th in the series, if you include the 2 novellas.

There are also interesting developments in the ongoing series story--Peabody and McNab in particular, and a somewhat startling new romantic attraction between Dr. Dimatto and LC Charles that was very thought-provoking.

Seduction in Death (In Death #13) Overview

Dante had been courting his victim in cyberspace for weeks before meeting her in person. A few sips of wine and a few hours later, she was dead. The murder weapon: a rare, usually undetectable date-rape drug with a street value of a quarter million dollars.

Detective Eve Dallas is playing and replaying the clues in her mind. The candlelight, the music, the rose petals strewn across the bed - a seduction meant for his benefit, not hers. He hadn't intended to kill her. But now that he has, he is left with only two choices: to either hole up in fear and guilt or start hunting again. . .

Seduction in Death (In Death #13) Specifications

New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts, writing as J.D. Robb, continues her prolific string of hits with her latest installment in the In Death series of futuristic thrillers starring hard-boiled detective Eve Dallas and a quirky cast of characters, including Eve's husband, Roarke, who owns most of Manhattan and can be relied upon to bring all his considerable resources to bear to help his wife solve the case whether she wants him to or not, and Peabody, Eve's uptight assistant, who has an off-again, on-again thing going with the irreverent Officer McNab. This time Eve is on the trail of a serial killer--or maybe killers--who stalks young women looking for love in online poetry chat rooms. Once a romantic date has been arranged, the murderer sets the scene with roses, champagne, and candlelight, then serves his unsuspecting victims a lethal combination of date-rape drugs that takes them to the height of pleasure and too far beyond. But this killer is really clever, altering his look to become each victim's dream date. What a nightmare! Detective Dallas is on the case, chasing an anonymous psychopath with a twisted taste in romance. But Eve seems a little more fragile this time around, still plagued by the nightmare of childhood abuse. Is retirement from the business of crime solving in the near future for Detective Dallas? Robb has found a winning formula in the genre, so hopefully we'll see a lot more of peppery Eve Dallas. --Alison Trinkle

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 09, 2010 10:33:05