In December 8, 1980, twenty-something rock journalist Laurie Kaye entered the legendary Dakota apartments on Manhattan's Upper West Side to co-conduct an interview with her longtime idol, John Lennon. It was the last interview Lennon would ever give - just hours later, outside that same building, Lennon was shot dead by a twenty-five-year-old man (whom Kaye refuses to refer to by name) whom Kaye herself had encountered after finishing the interview and stepping outside onto the street.

Kaye has beaten herself up ever since over her failure to recognise that the assassin - who blocked her path and harassed her with questions like Did you talk to him? and Did you get his autograph? posed a danger and should have been reported.

This book also includes discussion of interviews with such titans of the music industry as Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Talking Heads, The Ramones, David Bowie, and Mick Jagger.