[1] His most recent book, Victory City: A History of New York and New Yorkers during World War II, was issued by Grand Central Publishing in December 2018.
[3] The book is described by Kurt Andersen as "the definitive history of America's bohemian wellspring and prototypical modern neighborhood with all the verve and fun and rigor it deserves.
"[citation needed] Strausbaugh's previous books have examined the history of recreational drug use (The Drug User: Documents 1840-1960, co-edited with Donald Blaise, with an introduction by William S. Burroughs, 1990), the intersection of politics and popular culture in the White House (Alone With the President, 1992), the priesthood that spreads the gospel of Elvisism (E: Reflections on the Birth of the Elvis Faith, 1995) and Rock and Roll's infidelity to the youth culture that created it (Rock 'Til You Drop: The Decline From Rebellion to Nostalgia, 2001,[4] which was declared “the definitive word on the senescent Rolling Stones” by The New York Times).
Strausbaugh's controversial[citation needed] 2006 book, Black Like You: Blackface, Whiteface, Insult & Imitation in American Popular Culture, explored race relations in popular culture, including the pervasive and long-lasting impact of blackface performance in rock and roll, hip-hop, advertising, “gangsta-lit” and contemporary Hollywood filmmaking.
He served as editor of The New York Press from 1990 until late 2002, when the paper was sold to Avalon Equity Partners.