My review comes from the perspective of a young woman living in Montreal. I am not a pick-up artist, as many of his readers are, but nonetheless I found the book highly entertaining and read it in a matter of days.



The first thing that struck me when reading this book was that I had never heard a man was admit to suffering from body image issues. I always thought that women were the only ones to suffer from body dysmorphia, and assumed men had it easy, not caring what they look like. It was refreshing to see the author's vulnerability in regard to his body.



Tony's story reveals the irony of loving women, but hating them at the same time because his entire self-worth was built on their acceptance or rejection of him. He took me on a continuous roller coaster of highs (the moments of feeling like a rockstar, an unstoppable man) and the inevitable lows. We can all relate to these feelings of self-love and self-hate. This is inevitable if your happiness is dependent on others (in his case, women).



Perhaps the part I enjoyed the most was seeing a man take action, and being proactive about his unhappiness. I found myself applauding him for stepping up and learning all he could to get what he thought he wanted in life. He went all-in. What I find most admirable about pick up artists is their belief that you are not destined to live a certain life-- you are a dynamic being and you change anything about yourself, including your personality. Tony demonstrates just how far some men go in the name of self-improvement. It makes you wonder if there really are any limits to who you can become in this world. He says in the book, "Limiting beliefs are limits you set for yourself."



Tony shows the evolution of a loser becoming a rock star in his own universe. I loved this line: "Being a dating coach is like being a rock star, except instead of hot groupies you get awkward men." He shows a balanced, fairly un-glamorous view of a life as pick up artist.



As a woman, I found there were too many crude adolescent penis references (à la Super Bad) in the beginning of the book - perhaps it was intended prove how his penis was controlling his life. In any case, the alternating of humorous and emotionally vulnerable passages made up for it.



I highly recommend "A Thousand Tiny Failures" to anyone intrigued by the pick-up business, as well as any men or women who are looking for an entertaining book that will make you laugh.