'On stage I may seem Athena in her breastplate but visitors arriving backstage find this wuzzly little person. There's a paradox between that person and the Marianne Faithfull marionette that I manipulate, groom, dress up, and make do terrible and beautiful things. That Marianne Faithfull has a life of her own...Behind the façade and the drugs (they go together), I'm a snake pit of fears and insecurities. Depression, addiction, crippling stage fright, masses of guilt – which only spur me onto more destructive and self–destructive behaviour.'

This book tells of mad days on tour with Mick Jagger; day trips to George Harrison and Patti's multi–colored hippie cottage; evenings at Paul McCartney and Jane Asher's; a curious Christmas with Kate Moss; wild days with Yves Saint–Laurent in Morocco, getting high as kites and lounging around medieval castles on embroidered pillows; partying with 'Spanish Tony' and John and Yoko; friendship with – amongst many others – Sophia and Francis Ford Coppola, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Willy Nelson, Pete Townshend, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton; and her highly unconventional childhood in her father's literary commune, Braziers Park, whose inhabitants appeared to intersperse intellectual pursuits with an awful lot of casual sex.

Since her last book Marianne has, in her own words, 'made quite a few records, went on many tours, tried to play it straight, and...Well, the rest is the subject of this book.'