I doubt anything Strauss writes is wholly genuine. All of his books were written from the perspective of a journalist, with the end game goal of writing a book. He "does things" not organically but because he knows the experience would make a good anecdotal story for the upcoming book.
Kind of like when I worked at Disneyland long, long ago for the "guest research" department. I had to "cold approach" 500-1000 people a day for demographic surveys. But I was getting paid, so it was easy.
You'd have to be a sociopath to cold approach that many people a day just for the "experience."
I don't suspect "cold approaching" is any different than those goofs who make YouTube videos interviewing people on the street. How they behave while "working" is completely different than they behave when not "working."
I suspect all of Strauss' "experiences" while doing "research" for The Game and The Truth were done from that perspective, while "working" for a goal, rather than self fulfillment.
Kind of like those "mystery" customers who visit hotels, restaurants etc, just to write reviews. Strauss is like a "mystery citizen" pretending to live a "normal life" just so he can write a book about it.