JOURNO Neil Strauss really went the extra mile researching his upcoming book, “Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pick-Up Artists” (ReganBooks), about a group of professional Casanovas who teach seminars on the art of seduction. The intrepid Rolling Stone scribe actually became a master pickup artist himself, and then rented a Hollywood mansion with his new pals where they honed their skills. It worked so well, Strauss inadvertently picked up Courtney Love while interviewing her for a Rolling Stone piece. A few days after the interview, Love sent him a text message: “Can I stay at yr house? They repo the car and worse. U don’t wanna know. Need to not be alone.” She wound up moving in with Strauss and his cohorts and immediately made her mark: swearing at a dog, threatening to punch a male roommate in the face, borrowing Strauss’ used toothbrush, and sitting in on pickup seminars topless while offering advice to the students. One night she woke him up at 2:20 a.m. with a Prada shoe in her hand, exclaiming, “Let’s redecorate the house. This will be our hammer.”

~Alyx