If you're going to read one book about Hollywood, this is the one.

As co-founder of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Michael Ovitz earned a reputation for ruthless negotiation, brilliant strategy and fierce loyalty to his clients. He reinvented the role of the agent and helped shape the careers of hundreds of A-list stars and directors, including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Sean Connery, Steven Seagal, Bill Murray, Robin Williams and David Letterman.

But this personal history is much more than celebrity friendships and bare-knuckled deal-making. It's an underdog's story: How did a kid with no connections work his way into the William Morris mailroom, and become the most powerful person in Hollywood? How did a superagent also become a power in producing, advertising, mergers & acquisitions and modern art? And what were the personal consequences of all those deals?

After decades of near-silence in the face of intense controversy, Michael Ovitz is finally telling his whole story in this blistering, unforgettable memoir.

Michael Ovitz co-founded CAA in 1975 and served as its chairman until 1995. For most of the past two decades he has been a private investor and an advisor to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. This is his first book.