Sorry for the novel but I felt it important to get this all across to you.
I just wanted to poke my head in here. I'm not the most experienced pua by far, in fact I've hardly put any practice in, but I can tell you that if you structure your learning and start from the beginning and work on the beginning first until you have it down, and continue forward, you will notice the little things that really begin to add up to dramatic increases in your success with female interaction and companionship.
As for your questions, you say you've read a lot of PUA literature, and I am not questioning that, but if you have, you should know that women don't think on the same level as men do. Any PUA who's worth his weight will tell you that to be successful you have to understand and put an iron grasp on the fact that
women are not attracted to men in the same way men are attracted to women. That isn't to say that women won't jump after the hot guy, but they are effected more deeply on an emotional level, and WILL go for the guy who creates stronger emotional attraction a huge percentage of the time. Remember, your questions are derived from the male mentality (it looks good, I'd hit it), but with PUA, you should strive to see things from a womans perspective and communicate with her on that level.
These techniques aren't cheats, they aren't manipulation (well, I suppose speed seduction techniques might be but regardless), they're teaching you to connect with a girl on HER level and show her that you are what she wants. You may think you're lying to her by presenting a false facade but again, any PUA worth his weight will tell you that as you continue to practice PUA
you'll become the man you're perpetuating.
I suggest you read up outside of just PUA material, a great book to read in regards to the difference in mentality between men and women is called Men are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_Are_fr ... from_Venus
If you're lucky enough, as I am, to be really close friends with what I like to call a "Super" natural, then you can watch PUA techniques at their finest first hand, and ask questions. My closest friend has every girl he talks to wrapped around his pinky finger without even trying, and he shares his secrets with me without all the words we in the PUA community use to classify actions and such. Sure, he has a very athletic body and attractive face and smile, but by adopting his mentality and asking him for advice on my sticking points, I've had GREAT success with women who are vastly outside of my league, and I am by all means no more than a 4 on the looks scale (trust me, I'm 6'6" but I'm also pretty chubby and I have a sort of mean face, with a lazy eye, and believe me when I say lazy eyes are a huge turn-off to women), and I regularly date and fuck girls who are 8 - 9 HBs because of the advice he gives me. PUA teaches you to be a natural,
eventually, it won't be canned routines, it will be routine, no pun intended.
You have to understand something about the PUA culture. Like I've said before, it isn't cheating! Naturals have taken their ability to attract and nail the hottest ladies around, given it a name, and tried to put it into terms that us none-naturals can understand and relate to, and eventually practice. That is what PUA is. It isn't just a place to learn how to nail women, as you mentioned, it's a way to improve your life over-all. It CAN go bad, and has (as shown in Style's book The Game), but it will vastly improve the quality of your life.
Good luck, and I hope I've helped concrete your faith in the community.