What book changed your life?

[Chemistry]

Any book worth reading is worth re-reading. Why? Because each time you revisit a book, or any other work of art, you'll take something new away from it. You'll likely have a much different interpretation of a book you read at eighteen if you were to read it again at twenty-seven, or thirty-six, or fifty-two, etc.

This has been true with me and The Way of the Superior Man. I first read it about 10 years ago and I revisit it every couple years and different chapters end up 'clicking' for me when once they had made little sense. Even the same passages that I had interpreted one way end up meaning something different (but equally valuable) to me after reading with more life experience.

 

[LostChapter]

Rich Dad Poor Dad:

I read this book a few years ago, I was living payday to payday barely making it and wasn't at all happy with my life.

There was no one in my family who wasn't barely scraping by week to week and without reading this book I feel like I would be just like all of them now.

Bang

This one needs no introduction.

The Ice Man

The Story of Richard Kuklinski, contract killer for the Mafia.

I thoroughly enjoyed all of this book as I'm really into things of this sort but the main takeaway I had from it was how it helped me in a situation I was experiencing at the time.

A close family member of mine who suffers from schizophrenia was going through an extremely rough patch which nearly cost me my job / my housing / a lot of money & my sanity over the course of 3 years.

The book helped me to understand that although I was at the end of my tether with my family member, I could not blame them for it when it wasn't their fault as to how they were wired (like the Iceman himself)

It allowed me to think about things from their perspective (which wasn't something I was wired to do being extremely selfish and self centered at the time) & eventually manage to get the situation under control.

Personally I feel like I'd be a very different person now if I would not have read this book at that moment in time.

 

[Mikan]

The two books that have had the most impact on me:
Pimp - Iceberg Slim
Much of the received wisdom of Game elders was being spit by Slim over 50 years ago. Long before this whole Red Pill business, Slim demonstrated you get better results by being firm with women.

The Stranger - Albert Camus
Life has whatever meaning you give it, and if you aren't careful someone else might make that decision for you.

 

[RichieP]

Nassim Taleb's fooled by randomness, black swan and especially the book anti-fragile have been hugely influential for my life. My life basically revolves around the anti-fragile concept.

How have you implemented Antifragile?

I find the concept impressive and seemingly very powerful. But actual examples are thin on the ground, e.g.:

"OK now I do X, which is antifragile because A,B,C. As opposed to Y, which is fragile"

Interested to hear how you apply it - please PM me if it's tangential to the thread!

 

[CaptainChardonnay]

Rules of the Game by Neil Strauss was what introduced me to the concept of Game in the first place. I'd be in a very different place in my life right now if not for chancing upon that book.

This book opened my eyes to game at the tender age of 16 as well.

 

[Zeroblack]

"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.

 

[MajorStyles]

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.

 

[Gentleman Josiah Crown]

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.

 

[Mr. D]

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

 

[papaiela]

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.

 

[TheExperimenter]

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.The_Middle_Passage

 

[TheBoom]

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-Smarter-Faster-Lasting/dp/0066212553

 

[Laska]

Shakespeare's plays.

 

[Pride male]

Jesus Never Existed by Kenneth Humphries.

 

[Frank Underwood]

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.

 

[BrewDog]

Atlas Shrugged -Ayn Rand

 

[jackwashington]

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.

 

[Comte De St. Germain]

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

 

[j.archer]

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

 

[panknows24]

- 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