His journey to discover why he felt compelled to bed so many women leads him to uncomfortable truths about emotional incest with his mother, his father's secret fetish for disabled women and his own neuroses.Īnd because we are dealing with a man who regularly hobnobs with rock stars, there are also many, many, many conversations with uber-producer Rick Rubin. It's a compelling, if depressing read that follows Strauss through the aftermath of getting caught cheating on his girlfriend. In his new book, The Truth: An Uncomfortable Book About Relationships, we find out that for all the women he slept with, the only thing he f*cked was his life. His work of journalism was far from objective: He eventually moved in with some of them and adopted their practices in an effort to, like them, f*ck as much as humanly possible. In that famous 2005 book, Strauss hung out with notorious PUAs who have gone on to great fame, guys with fake names like Mystery and Tyler Durden.

For the rest of his life, it's likely Strauss will be remembered as the man who, via The Game, brought the pickup artist community to the mainstream. But none of that other work really matters. The man behind both books is Neil Strauss, a journalist who, aside from the Crue, has also co-written books with Marilyn Manson and Dave Navarro and who has written numerous profiles for Rolling Stone. Then, there's The Game, perhaps the most famous book about pickup artists ever written, an oozing cesspool of slime and disrespect for women. It's the single best look at the depravity of larger than life rock stars ever written - but more importantly, the most honest look of all time at what making popular music is actually like. If you've never read Motley Crue's The Dirt, pick up a copy immediately. It is a strange sensation to talk on the phone to the man who wrote your favorite book and also the one you most loathe.

The truth book neil strauss