In the 1980s and early 1990s, Mickey Rourke was one of Hollywood's most exciting stars, at once a sex symbol and critically acclaimed actor. But Rourke's hard drinking, self-loathing, and much-publicized marital brawls soon had him reduced to straight-to-video potboilers and a brief career as a boxer. Based on extensive interviews with Rourke, Francis Ford Coppola, and many others, this detailed biography examines the actor's chaotic, often brutal life, from his childhood in Miami's tough Liberty City, to his superstardom and downward spiral, to his recent triumphant return to the big screen.