If you’re looking for the best dark triad books, you’ve come to the right page.
And if you’re looking for “non-mainstream” strategies to make you more successful, you’ve come to the right website.
The dark triad includes Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy.
And yes, you can learn something from them.
Here are the current best resources on the dark triad.
Note: Unlike most lists, we only review books our founder and power dynamics expert Lucio Buffalmano has personally studied. His research empowers good men to understand and navigate the darker side of human nature, a crucial skill for remaining good while winning in life.
Contents
- 15. Confessions of A Sociopath
- 14. Trust Me, I’m Lying
- 13. The Art of The Deal
- 12. Psychopath Free
- 11. The 48 Laws of Power
- 10. The Dark Triad of Personality
- 9. Women Who Love Psychopaths
- 8. The Art of Seduction
- 7. The Dictator’s Handbook
- 6. Bad Blood
- 5. Machiavelli’s Principles: Life & Work
- 4. Who Is Michael Ovitz
- 3. Casanova’s Memoirs
- 2. The Good Psychopath’s Guide
- 1. Power University
15. Confessions of A Sociopath
How do dark-triad folks think and act?
Well, there is no better way than to let an actual sociopath share that.
The author, a diagnosed sociopath, discusses how life looks like to a sociopath.
The results might shock someone.
M.E. Thomas openly discusses how she relishes ruining people.
That’s common among psychopaths and sociopaths, since hurting others gives them a sense of power.
The author, a woman, discusses using fake allegations of gender discrimination for career advancement and instigating her classmates to file a made-up sexual harassment charge against her school teacher.
Don’t get me wrong, many people enjoy seeing others lose. That’s what frenemies are all about, after all.
And some even see the positives in other people’s suffering. I remember an ex-girlfriend of mine being sad that her ex-boyfriend had a new beau.
Why?
Because he wouldn’t pine over her anymore.
But sociopaths do take it one step further when it comes to relishing in other people’s misfortune.
That’s what Thomas makes clear here. And that’s why you only want to selectively borrow from psychopaths and sociopaths.
A similar book is “The Psychopath Inside“, but Fallon writes as a neuroscientist, with lots of scientific details that might bore many readers.
14. Trust Me, I’m Lying
Machiavellianism often pays.
Ryan Holiday describes how he manipulated the media and the masses as the marketing director of American Apparel.
The same techniques are used every day by “celebrities” who seek to monopolize media and people’s attention.
Narcissistic traits have only become more rewarding with globalization and the digital revolution. See the new phenomenon of “being famous for being famous”, started by Paris Hilton and taken one step further by the Kardashians.
Successful narcissistic manipulators today can have wealth and power thanks to the masses of people who’d rather stalk other people’s lives than live their own.
Scoops, revelations, “embarrassing releases” etc. are planned and manipulated to grab people’s attention.
Don’t be a sheep: focus on your life instead.
13. The Art of The Deal
Oh well.
Donald Trump is on a list of dark triad books; isn’t that surprising?
Machiavellianism starts before you even open the book, at the “author” page level.
Schwartz indeed said that Donald Trump didn’t write a single word of the book, and Trump, of course, replied that he wrote most of it.
To get to the real dark triad goodies in “The Art of The Deal,” you have to be able to read through the lines, as the book was obviously going to be rather kind towards Trump.
Take for, example, when Trump wanted to help homeless people in New York by giving them shelter in an old building he had bought.
Unfortunately, the City of New York prohibited him from carrying out this generous act of kindness.
What gives?
That all sounded strange to me. So I researched it. And, it turns out, Trump wanted to let homeless people in to force the last holdout owners to sell low.
LOL, if that weren’t so low, one couldn’t stop laughing at Trump’s Machiavellianism.
Also read:
Is Trump A Dark Triad Man?
The Goldwater Rule says that no psychiatrist or psychologist should attempt any diagnosis of people they haven’t examined in person.
But that hasn’t stopped many from trying.
12. Psychopath Free
How do psychopaths act in relationships?
And how does it feel to be the victim of a psychopath?
Well, MacKenzie knows a thing or two about that.
And he shares his harrowing story in this tragic book.
Also read:
11. The 48 Laws of Power
You know this one.
And you didn’t come here to learn about “The 48 Laws of Power“, right?
So check out these updated versions by ThePowerMoves:
- The Updated 48 Laws of Power with contemporary examples (Book 2 & Book 3)
The 48 Laws of Power is a wonderful book for understanding daily power dynamics.
However, as I often repeat, it requires that you have at least mastered basic social skills and basic social dynamics. If you don’t, it might actually backfire. To be sure, read “Fixing The 48 Laws of Power“.
The 48 Laws of Power is a sort of “playbook” on the games people play, so you can also check out:
For a quick reference, see:
10. The Dark Triad of Personality
As a website that values empirical evidence, we had to have this book.
It’s not the only book written by a psychologist or scientist on this list.
But it’s the only scientific textbook.
So expect a “less entertaining read” on this one :).
But if you want what the research literature shows us about the dark triad, this is your book.
9. Women Who Love Psychopaths
Are psychopaths more successful with women?
Well, sometimes they are, yes.
As the book indirectly shows, though, it’s possible that in the long term, they mostly hang on to lower-quality women. Psychopaths, at least the “‘Factor 2” antisocial psychopaths, are more likely to have addictive personalities and accumulate little wealth and power. Attractive and power-aware women with options go for the “total package” alpha males.
But overall, psychopaths often have a higher lay count than non-pathological men.
However, that is not to say that Factor 2 psychopaths are more attractive and successful across the board.
And they are mostly successful with a specific subset of women.
Who are these women?
That’s what Sandra Brown explains.
Also read:
- Why psychopaths get laid more (and why they fail more, too)
8. The Art of Seduction
Most people searching for “dark triad seduction” want to get laid more.
And that seems fair—and normal—to me.
But the link between seduction and the dark triad can get tricky.
This is what Sandra Brown, author of “Women Who Love Psychopaths” says about seduction and dark triad:
The websites devoted to ‘seduction techniques’ are an example of varying levels of psychopathy and are now being taught online to others. Anyone wanting to do this to another person, by definition, is high in psychopathic traits.
Of course, that’s a major generalization, and I don’t fully agree.
But she’s also not fully wrong.
Robert Greene‘s approach to seduction can be categorized as ‘dark triad’ for its low empathy.
“The Art of Seduction” discusses pain, isolation, triangulation, and even regression to get into the target’s psyche.
I never advise or condone hurting people, but I consider “The Art of Seduction” to be Robert Greene’s highest-quality work.
And it’s not all about sexual seduction either, but also about social seduction.
For a more realistic and much sobering read, see:
Psychopaths’ Sexual Strategy: Marauders of Sex
7. The Dictator’s Handbook
There you have it:
A playbook for narcissists and sociopaths to acquire president-level power and wealth.
This is the modern “The Prince“, and no descriptions are needed, but two quotes:
Quote: Rule 3: Control the flow of money.
(…)
Bravo to Pakistan’s president Asif Ali Zardari, estimated to be worth up to $4 billion even as he governs a country near the world’s bottom in per capita income.
And even worse:
Quote: Rule 5: Don’t take money out of your supporters’ pockets to make people’s lives better.
(…)
Bravo to Senior General Than Shwe of Myanmar, who made sure following the 2008 Nargis cyclone that food relief was controlled and sold on the black market by his military supporters rather than letting aid go to the people—at least 138,000 and maybe as many as 500,000 of whom died in the disaster
This is exactly what I refer to when I often say that good people need to know how to be bad.
Otherwise, it’s only the “through and through pieces of sh*t” who get to power and hold power.
Also read:
- Politician’s manipulations: techniques and examples
6. Bad Blood
Oh wow, what to say about this one?
Elizabeth Holmes was the perfect, high-functioning sociopath.
Machiavellian to the core, she took everyone for a ride while her company, without a viable business plan and working technology, ballooned to a 10 billion dollar valuation.
The craziest thing?
Had she managed to come up with the technology, nobody would have even realized she was a con artist.
Holmes spewed all the keywords dear to the modern, narcissistic Silicon Valley founder.
She sought capital to “provide basic health care rights”, she worked “for the people,” and, just for good measure, she threw the “woman card” out there.
Holmes set herself up as an example for millions of women to follow. Well, she did manage, in a way. She proved to everyone that women can swindle and con much better than men can,
Oh, and how to forget this, of course, she also wanted “make an impact”.
Also read:
5. Machiavelli’s Principles: Life & Work
A Machiavellian take on Ray Dalio’s more virtuous ‘Principles’.
It’s a brief take that Lucio Buffalmano wrote on a whim, but it ended being a hit among our readers.
Many found it refreshing and enlightening.
It’s free, so give it read and see for yourself.
It may change the way you look at some authors’ biographies.
4. Who Is Michael Ovitz
This is our top pick for dark triad traits in the service of business success.
Ovitz’s Machiavellian approach to business built the most powerful Hollywood agency in the world.
And made him an influential multimillionaire in the process.
On business structure, he says:
The lack of hierarchy was a myth, of course, a management tool. We were democratic dictators.
And about his ‘hidden power’ and reputation, he says:
Mystique is ten times better than publicity; it’s much better to be thought of as the great and powerful Oz than to be revealed as merely another schemer behind a curtain.
And about his approach to business:
My clients played characters on-screen; I played them offscreen.
I was a chameleon, becoming whomever I needed to be to make everyone comfortable and close the deal.
A must-read and a tough wake-up call for anyone who has grown up on naive self-help and naive business books.
⚠️ Buyer beware!
Ovitz had a life crisis and a tremendous fallout with his lifetime best friends and business partners, going from best pals, to worst enemies.
Read our review in full to avoid the same mistakes -we teach the ‘best of both worlds’ approach in Power University- 🔜
3. Casanova’s Memoirs
Why are Casanova’s memoirs even here?
Well, to begin with, because most people are interested in dark triad personalities to seduce and get laid more (no shame there).
Second, because I seek to provide an informational edge and few people are even aware of this book.
And third, because Casanova did slay thanks to dark triad traits.
Most of all, I believe, in narcissism, with power-aware narcissists being some of the most prolific types of seducers:
10 Types of Male Seducers: Pick Your Niche!
Casanova was a rake in an era when hookups weren’t nearly as easy while traveling and often not knowing the language and customs (sigma male-style), and while overcoming a litany of roadblocks, from cockblocking parents to protective nuns while he tried to seduce women in convent.
When it comes to dark triad traits, I don’t think Casanova was a psychopath.
What’s peculiar about his womanizer style indeed is that he often fell in love with women as hard as they did -except he moved on anyway-.
But he did have plenty of antisocial (APD) and dark triad traits, including narcissism, a strong will to power, reckless and impulsive behavior, and endless Machiavellian plots to meet and get together with women.
In many ways, he also used many modern seduction techniques, including:
- Lavish money spending (conspicuous consumption)
- Entering elite circles and earning social status (social circle game)
- Staying in shape and attention to appearances (self-care)
- Wearing the most elaborate clothes (peacocking)
- Hustling to hire servants and stay at the best locations (lifestyle game)
And he leveraged his position of power for plenty of easy lays, too.
Bravo to Casanova, a true example of leveraging dark triad traits without (willingly) hurting anyone and in support of a life worth living.
2. The Good Psychopath’s Guide
Some psychopathy traits can be used to enhance your odds of success in life.
That, you knew, I think. Or you suspected, at least. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have ended up on this list of best dark triad books.
So after “The Wisdom of Psychopaths“, Dutton moved to a “how-to book” on how to be more of a psychopath.
However, before you jump on that train: too much psychopathy becomes harmful and is not conducive to life success.
And violence, poor impulse control, and poor planning are a recipe for ending up in prison.
So, which traits should you borrow from psychopaths?
That’s what Kevin Dutton does: he lists what traits you should borrow from psychopaths, and how you can go about to develop them within yourself.
1. Power University
By Lucio Buffalmano
Overview | Reviews
Technically, it’s a course and not a book.
But if your goal is to learn how to leverage dark triad traits to have more success in life, then this is your course.
A course has several advantages over a book because you can retain and internalize much better with quizzes, video examples, mock dialogues, and exercises.
Our approach is to make you a winner, without turning into an as*hole.
This isn’t just for ethical considerations, but because our dual approach allows you to win competitions, while also enjoying genuine and win-win relationships.
Read Power University reviews here.
Change Log
- Added Who Is Michael Ovitz (23.02.2024) as one of the best dark triad books on business success
