Everyone Loves You When You're Dead

January 24, 2011
Journalist Strauss, who has coauthored books with the band members of Mötley Crüe (The Dirt) and porn superstar Jenna Jameson (How to Make Love Like a Porn Star) now offers a terrific look at the dysfunctional livelihoods of stardom, a theme based on his many interviews for various publications. Strauss went back to his original interview tapes and notes in search of moments—mostly unpublished—that reveal "the truth or essence of each person, story, or experience." He liberally and ingeniously cuts back and forth between scenes, such as pairing the youthful, arrogant claims of Oasis that the band could have been the Beatles in the 1960s with the tortured feeling of the Who's aging leader Pete Townshend ("All we can do in the future is look back"). In other instances, he shows the self-doubt shared by Soul Asylum's Dave Pirner and actor Orlando Bloom. But the best moments come when Strauss has earned such trust of his subjects that he becomes part of some very weird scenes, all of which are presented in all their often hilarious detail: shooting guns with Ludacris, getting kidnapped by Courtney Love, making Lady Gaga cry, and shopping for Pampers with Snoop Dogg.

Starred review from January 15, 2011

Veteran pop-culture journalist Strauss (Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life, 2009, etc.) offers an eclectic collection of interviews with the "artists, celebrities, and crazy people of the world."

By his own count, the author has conducted some 3,000 interviews with the famous, not-so-famous, used-to-be-famous and ought-to-be-famous denizens of popular culture. Here he brings together the best of these interviews in loosely and at times bizarrely connected chapters. All the well-knowns are here, including Madonna, Lady Gaga, David Bowie, The Who, Kenny G, Led Zeppelin, Puffy Combs and Bo Diddley. The author also includes many lesser-known artists, such as the master mandolin player Johnny Staats, who still drives a UPS truck, and the pioneering electronic-music artist Patrick Miller, who was taken early by drugs—as are too many of the subjects here. Known or unknown, they all have something to say. The subject is not always clear, as Strauss often introduces an interview, drops it and returns to it many pages later, but that is part of the fun of his anarchic presentation. Bruce Springsteen is typically modest, noting that one of the main motivations of his music is "to try to be useful." Chuck Berry is open, funny and scatological. Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn are achingly poignant as they speak of death and courage. Mötley Crüe gets arrested. And so it goes with hundreds of other interviews. In a concluding tribute to the late critic Paul Nelson, Strauss wonders if such obsession with pop culture is worth it. He concludes that it is, if only to allow us to reflect on our own faults and follies and on what we have and think we want.

Gonzo interviewing at its best.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 15, 2011

This book contains unpublished tidbits from 227 interviews that rock critic Strauss--who's coauthored books with Motley Crue, Jenna Jameson, and Marilyn Manson--has conducted over his career writing for the New York Times and Rolling Stone, among other publications. Each snippet is only a few pages long, with a brief introductory paragraph, and the book rarely lists interview dates. Most pieces emphasize the celebrated subjects' more controversial moments or disturbing attributes but reveal little about them that is not already common knowledge. The majority of the interviewees are musicians--e.g., Snoop Dogg, Pink, Rick James, Patti Smith, Jerry Lee Lewis, Brian Wilson, Lady Gaga--with a smattering of other cultural icons, including Timothy Leary, Jackie Chan, and Ben Stiller. VERDICT Celebrity gossip can be addictive. This excellent bathroom read is boiled down like little rocks of crack.--Lani Smith, Ohlone Coll. Lib., Fremont, CA

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