In Blacker's memoir, he ends with "If I only knew then what I know now," (as an eighty-something). But between the "once upon a time" and the "if only," his autobiography is chock-full of interesting details and glimpses into his dysfunctional family life, followed by his adult life in the music industry. The autobiography is really two tales. One describes his dysfunctional family with a violent and demanding father, a situation with which many readers may relate. But then, what he does with his life thereafter, and how it affects his future, is fascinating.

Blacker dives into a high-profile job that gives him recognition, power, and acceptance that he lacked as a child. It eventually defines him. As an agent, manager, or publisher to big names like Deep Purple and Savoy Brown, Blacker seemingly knows everyone in the music industry and describes how it ultimately defined his career. "One of the things about the business of Rock and Roll is that it is easy to get wrapped up in the whole aura of what it is that you do...."

Beyond the fact that the author led an unusual life, his writing style spices up the telling. For example, in describing his trouble as a teenager, he writes, "with a 10-year-old brain in a 15-year-old body, sitting on this slab of concrete, trying to figure the hell out of what I was doing in jail." In short, this is great writing that will undoubtedly keep readers engaged through the very last page.

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