For over 20 years Neil Strauss has been writing celebrity profiles for Rolling Stone, the New York Times and many other publications. During that time he's downed shots with Bruce Springsteen, chilled in a hot tub with Marilyn Manson, debated religion with Tom Cruise and watched Mötley Crüe go to jail. In his new book Everyone Loves You When You're Dead – in stores now – Strauss fuses together 228 memorable moments from his career. "I went back to my original interview recordings, notes and transcripts," he writes in the book's introduction. "I selected the best moments from the three-thousand-something articles I've written over the years…I spent weeks working on some of these stories, what I realized is that most of the time I was waiting for just one moment of truth or authenticity."

Here are select excerpts from the book.