"I am hopelessly divided between the dark and the good, the rebel and the saint, the sex maniac and the monk, the poet and the priest, the demagogue and the populist."

Billy Idol's self-evaluation is spot-on. How many of us feel that pull between two worlds? There are choices, go left, go right, stay in the middle. As I read Dancing with Myself I felt as though Billy Idol/William Broad stayed in the middle and stepped either left or right, depending on where the tides were pulling him.

The book was candid. There were only a few instances where the sex was graphic. But not told in a way to shock the reader, but to lay it out, bare the bones of why he behaved the way he did. For those who are sensitive to language, I wouldn't recommend that you read this, but I will say that if you do you will be enlightened on why someone chooses the path they forge.

There are no excuses given in this book, no justifications of behaviour; only the logical frankness of viewing life through the eyes of wisdom that is gain as one grows older. The prose is poetic at times, harsh and straightforward at other times. As you read about his rise to fame, you can also see his downfall as he lost himself. To me, he was truly a rebel, but a rebel without a direction.

By reading this, the insight gained shows a flawed human being, one full of love, loyalty, but also full of passionate and ego. His words said it best: "I burst forth from her jaws deep inside the forgotten land, dying a thousand times before the Lioness let go of her love, for her love was death and I was so near the edge."

Behind the façade of the bleach-blond hair and seductive snarl lies a man of great intelligence and passion. Dancing with Myself gave a tidbit of his life. It showed the multiple facets of private life, public life, outward appearance, and inner-self. It was more than sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. It gave insight into a time when the world was changing and a generation herald in a new age.