The Book of Pook is a forerunner text in the manosphere and Red Pill world.
It’s been groundbreaking with many of its concepts and philosophies.
But it could have been even better with a shorter format, better editing and with higher quality information.

Bullet Summary

• Focus on yourself and the life you want instead of what people around tell you to get
• The high standards you have for others, have them for yourself first
• Never be ashamed for being a man and never be ashamed of your own sexuality

Full Summary

The Book of Pook shares the wisdom through parable-sounding stories, fancy literary devices and lots of dialogues.
I will tease out the wisdom here without any of the flowery language.

Approach

Here are some of Pook’s rules on approaching:

• Make it fun for yourself (when he started doing it fun for himself his interactions improved and he wasn’t afraid anymore)
• Don’t make her your object of desire before approaching (or it will induce anxiety)
• If you see them every day, be patient instead of overly aggressive

And finally, what has become a mantra in the community:

• Rejection is better than regret

Mindsets

• As you think, you shall become (also read As a Man Thinket)
• The greatest risk is avoiding all risks
• Control testosterone, don’t be controlled by it (like jerks are)
• Keep an air of mystery: don’t reveal much of yourself (great for shy and introverted)
• The high standard you have for a girl must first be applied to yourself
• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket: always have a back up
• Success is a habit
• Don’t think that getting a girl equates to success, and getting rejected will not equate to failure

Relationship Management

To enjoy a good relationship:

• Accept and live your masculinity
• Enjoy her femininity
• Don’t accept but challenge her indifference
• Punish disrespect and reward good behavior (basics of operant conditioning)

Female Mindset

When it comes to female mindset, The Book of Pook says that women:

• Love being treated like little girls
• Love being objectified by men they like
• Don’t care about philosophy and big mental constructs
• Use meaningless words: judge them by their actions instead
• Love being fucked when you have your pleasure in mind (instead of hers)

Also read: The Female Brain.

Rules of Being a Man

1. Make your dreams and passions your priority
2. Don’t walk on egg shells: never apologize for being a man
3. Strive to win at what you do
4. Solve problems instead of blaming
5. Don’t prove yourself to anyone but yourself

You only need to prove yourself to yourself

Other Rules

• Respect is all. Walk away at any signs of disrespect
• Sexualize your presence, go for women romantically, not as a friend
• Trust your gut
• Always believe and act like you are the catch
• Believing you’re the catch cures neediness and desperation
• Focus on improving yourself, not getting the girl
• Improvise and change: don’t be constrained by formulas and routines
• Think like someone great to become a great someone
• Make it fun with women, keep the boring philosophical talk for your friends (or yourself)
• Imitating the jerk’s behavior won’t work: imitation is suicide, you gotta find your own way
• Take care of yourself: look good, workout, eat right, wear nice clothes
• Don’t give her too much attention (don’t be always available, don’t always text first, be willing to flake)
• Learn and adopt dominant body language
• Be ambitious, build your life the way you want it to be

The Book of Pook Quotes

Women would rather share a successful man than be attached to a faithful loser.

Either go for MANY or go for NONE. If you go for ONE you will become an AFC.

The ‘innocent, nice girl’ is often the horniest and likely uninnocent.

Many women consider your looks, your career, what you can offer them, before your integrity and character.

Woman’s sole mission is union, either for pleasure or the fruits of children. She cares nothing for your philosophy and all except to either use it to catch interest in a guy or to enthrone herself.

Women, in sex, desire to be treated as an object and relish it.

In order to be successful in the world, you must be successful in your mind.

“I know how to get laid, make money, get a girlfriend and build a career. And yet why am I not happy?” “Because,” Pook continues, “My entire life has been focusing on everything except me.”

The Book of Pook Audiobook

Somebody turned The Book of Pook into an audiobook, also available on Youtube.
However, it’s read by the robot-voice, and that’s a big turn down for most.

Real Life Applications

Put Your Sexual Pleasure First
For a long time I had focused on the woman’s pleasure first, thinking that “being a good lover” was important. But the mindset that underpins it is that you must be serving her. This is an important mindset shift for many men. And, often, she will also enjoy it more when you put yourself first.

Apply The Standards You Have For Others to Yourself
This is simple yet genius. Having high standards for others but not for oneself is the epitome of entitlement mentality, the mental scourge of our era.

Focus on Improving Yourself, Not Getting The Girl
Girls are a consequence for people who make themselves great catches. This is another simple yet profound truth.

Don’t Think Getting A Girl Equals Success
If you think that getting a girl means success, you are automatically placing her on a pedestal. And making yourself nervous and uncomfortable throughout the whole interaction and possible relationship.
Define your success in a way that you can better control.

CONS

God on Mount Sinai Attitude
In many of his posts Pook projects himself as the wise dispenser of truths, enlightening the word with it.
I don’t like it, I find it jarring, self-serving and narcissistic.

Parable-Style & Literary Bloat
I’m an outlier here because most people enjoy the “purple prose” of flowery, ornamental style.
I personally find it convoluted and time wasting.
A bit like Who Moved My Cheese, Rich Dad Poor Dad and The Greatest Salesman in The World. However, we have to admit that when it’s done well, the parable style is effective -like it’s been for the above mentioned books and most religions-.

Imprecise
I feel that, sometimes, pompous talk hide the actual hollowness of some passages. For example:

“What do you mean, Pook?” “Most men are scared of their sexuality! Look at the chumps! They are not men; they are androgynous. They are ape-like.”

So now apes are androgynous and/or scared of their sexuality?

Empty “When You Were a Child” Pep Talk
Some self-help authors like to encourage people by telling them that “they already have it in them” because they used to be just like that when they were children.
Sometimes it’s true that we need to rediscover our inner child. But sometimes it makes no sense. Like in The Book of Pook:

I bet when you were a kid, you were a natural Don Juan.
I bet you got all the girls in the sandbox. As a child, you knew how to treat women (..)
Some of these factors include that you….
-KNEW there was MALE and FEMALE.
-Realized girls had cooties and could destroy a guy (…)

Hemmm, no I didn’t and this makes no sense.
I’m a thousand times better and more knowledgeable now than was I child.

Generic
The parable-style is good for mindsets. But not for specific, deep pointers on how to exactly change, act or behave.

Example:

Be a guy, talk like a guy, act like a guy. Do action things.

Hmm, OK… “action things?”.

Sometimes Contradictory
The Book of Pook sometimes seems more intent in coming up with a memorable quote and a beautiful sentence than actually delivering information in a systematic, coherent fashion.

For example:

All men are called to be leaders, even if it is not to guide other men you are meant to guide your own household, protect it, and keep your wife and children from the paths of error, defending your fruits of Nature from the locusts and storms of Time.

Basically here it tells men to be the provider. Which is not fully compatible with the idea of treating her like a sexual object and putting the sole focus on you and yourself only.
I don’t disagree with either, but they just don’t sound very compatible.

Gamble It All
It’s easy to tell people to “take risks” and usually everyone reading it loves to read it. But encouraging people to “gamble it all” it’s a hollow strong-sounding, but practically weak principle. The best entrepreneurs protect their downside. And as Trump said:

I don’t like gambling, I’d rather own the casino :).

Sometimes Child-Like Posts 
Sometimes the politicking and status-jockeying that frequently happens on many online boards transpires into Pook’s posts.
For example:

I have been accused and labeled as everything under the sun. What is funny is even when I am truthful abotu who I am (like in the Feminism on Trial thread), people don’t believe it and think I’m lying! No, I am who I’ve said I am.

Or:

Consider a recent example with PowerEgo. He accused the Pook of being a (oh that term) workaholic and that I was demanding everyone to become a workaholic.

This is a very defensive attitude, and doesn’t show the mental strength of someone who’s presenting himself as the wise and enlightened being.
It sounds instead like petty small-time social status jockeying (and read why it’s so crucial you avoid small pond status jockeying).

Laws of Nature?
The Book of Pook sometimes refers to “laws of nature” to sound more authoritative. But reality is so varied and complex that talking about “immutable laws of nature” is a bit reductive.

Shallow Social Analysis
Sometimes The Book of Pook diverges into social analysis that are far from deep and enlightening. For example:

Sexuality is rapidly becoming a political and cultural problem, as strange as that may be. Single women are increasing, birth rates are plunging, more people are becoming infertile, which causes secondary reactions (immigration becomes more pronounced, elderly social programs become threatened, governments spend money on marriage promotion and baby promotion).

Is immigration and “plunging” birth rates really connected to sexuality “rapidly” becoming a political and cultural problem?
I have (lots of) doubts.

Feminism 
It’s not that bad in Pook’s writing, but as it’s often the case for many popular manosphere books, feminism takes up quite some space. I’m personally not a big fan of ranting against feminism.

PROS

Holistic Approach to Life
The very best aspect of The Book of Pook for me is that it invites the readers to apply themselves to build the life of their dreams, taking care of themselves, and overall enjoying a good and happy life. Women should be an addition to that life, and he even considers a fair choice not having any women at all in one’s life.

Groundbreaking
Pook has been a groundreaking influence.
He has been a great influence on the MGTOW (men going their own way) movement which, initially at least, had a quite cool ideology.

No Misogyny 
Overall, I really liked the fact that Pook really seems like a guy free of any misogyny. He invites people to build their dream life and enjoy women, but without any of the ugliest attitudes of some fringes of the manosphere.

Pook Sounds Knowledgeable 
Sometimes a few passages made me think that Pook is actually very knowledgeable. For example when he says that beginners should kino and touch a girl. But very advanced and attractive men can, and probably should go, without touching.
I agree with that a lot. The idea is that when you don’t touch her and there is a lot of attraction, it can work like an erupting volcano when you finally to start attacking each other.

Review

The Book of Pook is not an easy book to review.

It’s one of those books that has genius content, but also a lots of BS to wade through.

It’s been a book that has helped change the game, in some says.
It was the first to tell men to focus on themselves, to stop looking at women like notches around which to base their self-esteem, and to apply high standards to themselves first.
That’s deep stuff.

But it also a lot of generic content, redundant information and even sometimes contradictory or counterproductive advice (see my notes).

About the style of writing, one can love “The Book of Pook” for it, or find it annoying.
I’m in the latter category.

I like information straight up, with lots of wisdom, backed by data, experience or a deep understanding of human nature.
Hopefully, all three combined.
And that was not the case here.

Overall, I feel that more advanced guys looking for actual dating techniques can skip it.
Otherwise, good read for beginners. 

Check the best dating books for guys (and best dating books for women, if you’re curious)