David Bret has spent 30 years writing about the famous, but now dishes the dirt on himself, holding nothing back when discussing the ones he loved, those he did not. Born in France, adopted by a British couple, he suffered physical and mental abuse at the hands of a Machiavellian father, a serial adulterer whose cruelty knew no bounds. Unable to find love at home, he searched for solace in the arms of lovers of both sexes. Initially, these were ordinary men and women. There was a platonic relationship with Peter Sutcliffe, before he became The Yorkshire Ripper. When starting to gain plaudits as a biographer, his intimates became more celebrity orientated. Marlene Dietrich, Dorothy Squires and the French chanteuse, Barbara, took him to their hearts, as did others. In these very candid memoirs, Bret recalls his eccentric family, celebrity friends and lovers, but is unsparing towards the father he got away from only when his mother chose suicide rather than to continue suffering.