The fame and fall of a chronicler of the nightlife in the '70s and '80s, against a backdrop of music and drugs of every stripe.

As a teen, Alain Pacadis was a devotee of Napoleonic battles. How did this shy son of immigrants, living alone with his mother on Rue de Charonne, become the glam-punk icon who's penned gonzo chronicles for Libération since 1975? How did young Alain, shortly after his first protest demonstration in '68, storm the gates of the Palace and Bains-Douches clubs, escorted by a joyous band of freaks? More than just a journalist, he was like a character right out of a novel. Here, Charles Salles lifts the sequined veil for the first time on his life of extravagance.