Neil Strauss was popular for having written a guide to picking up women. One of his more deplorable techniques was to try and lower a woman’s self esteem so she would sleep with him. A sure sign that his self-esteem was pretty low at the time also.
However, here he seems to have pulled his life together in a more positive manner. I’ll let you be the judge.
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/oct/10/neil-strauss-the-game-book-truth