Everyone Loves You When You're Dead: Journeys into Fame and Madness

When I first started reading this book I felt disappointed. I know I expected something different. In the preface I had been promised snippets of actual conversations, not filtered conversations turned into interviews. But then the first snippets didn’t seem to fulfill the promise of better of the interviewees.

I’m glad I didn’t let that first perception (a perception after only a few pages) make me change course. Because I quickly realized that it was no one snippet that would make the effect; it was the compilation of snippets that makes this such a fascinating read. Strauss has managed to get to the movers and shakers (primarily of music) that are hard to reach. And even for the easier to reach, he has found a spin that makes them slightly different than you would expect.

And I will also add that, by giving the real transcripts - the actual words spoken over the particular moment of time – there is great insight in how to be a good interviewer. Strauss’s conversational approach to interviewing becomes evident. And it is equally as evident how successful the approach is.

No one quote, no one interview, makes this book. Rather, the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. And that all comes together for a very significant sum. ( )