"The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" by Mark Manson starts out with a plethora of expletives. Understandably, he has the F-word in the title and needs to fulfill his marketing promise. The book is relatively short and begins with some Stoic wisdom that anyone who has read "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius or "The Enchiridion" might already be familiar with. While not necessarily bad, it can be a good entry point into the topic for someone who finds the previously mentioned books dull.
The second part of the book focuses on values and how pursuing the wrong ones can lead to suffering. I found the anecdote about the musician who later formed Megadeth most insightful: after being thrown out of his band, he vowed to become better than his former colleagues and founded Megadeth. Although he became incredibly popular, he never achieved his goal since he was thrown out of Metallica, leading to a sense of bitterness and unfulfillment.
In the last section, there is a form of redemption arc. Mark Manson, known within the manosphere, has written another book called "Models," in which he shares his personal pickup strategies. Having settled down, he now attempts to reconcile his former lifestyle with his new one. The book still contains several red pill concepts but avoids using terms like frame and alpha, instead explaining the concepts differently. He might gone back to AFC but once you are unplugged, there is no going back...
So, does Manson actually deliver? Yes, indeed. The book offers valuable insights, and if you are unfamiliar with the concept of Stoicism, or as he refers to it, "not giving a f*ck," then it serves as an excellent entry point. For those familiar with the concept, it drives the point home using modern vocabulary. This might be a good book if you are starting out on TRP and trying to be more confident and stoic but are not fully unplugged yet.
Cleavagedestroyer 1y ago
Honestly, I didn't like the book that much. He seems to be repeating a single idea multiple times to meet his word count quota.
His entire book could have been sumed up in a post on trp but that wouldn't make him any money.
It seems to me he's one of those many names that got famous and legitimate in both the manosphere and in other corners just for the sake of the book being famous already. Once you reach there (mostly due to luck) people get scared of being ostracised to criticise / have an opinion about you that they came up with themselves.
It's like a pyramid scheme type of marketing.
Moreover the title of his book makes it out to be something edgy and rebelling despite it being the opposite of it making it the perfect candidate as a rebellious brand.
Unstirred0067 1y ago
Thanks for you Reply; totally agree. It unpacks some concepts but whats new isn't good and whats good isn't new. I guess it has value for someone who is new to TRP
Boosted_Arrow 1y ago
I read his book and the sequel to that one. I found both trash tbh. The second one was nice for the philosophy aspect. But there were just a lot of words without saying anything.
[deleted] 1y ago
[--removed--]
whytehorse2021 1y ago
I find a lot of manosphere books are just grifters similar to the penis enlargement grift. If any of them were true and actually worked every doctor on the planet would prescribe them when asked. Rollo at least gives credit to the founders of red pill like Dr David Buss and Marty Haselton.
Boosted_Arrow 1y ago
Any opinions on Stirling Cooper? For the penis enlargement? lmao
whytehorse2021 1y ago
OMFG I didn't realize he ACTUALLY runs that grift, wow. I just thought he was larping as a former porn star. Just like I'm larping as a former Google and Facebook tech lead.
Unstirred0067 1y ago
The interesting thing is, that this is a mainstream book, written by a Red pill Aware author. You can identify concepts like alpha and frame but they are never named.
Everything you write holds true though
pofkaf 1y ago
I recently discovered that he also published a "journal" that highlights mental exercises for you to stop giving a fuck. I want to check it out sometime.
Cleavagedestroyer 1y ago
You have to be shitting me