(FORTUNE Magazine) – Reader Advisory: The following book, Howling at the Moon: The Odyssey of a Monstrous Music Mogul in an Age of Excess (Broadway Books, 24.95), by former CBS Records chief Walter Yetnikoff, contains crude and indecent language, depictions of substance abuse, and explicit sexual activity. Which is exactly what keeps the pages turning in this tale of the epic rise and precipitous fall of the man who coddled such luminaries as Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, and Billy Joel, and who sparred with such titans as David Geffen, Michael Eisner, and Barry Diller. In the process he bullied and blustered his way into what he modestly refers to as "15 years of outlandishly profitable rule."

Yetnikoff paints a vivid picture of himself, and it isn't pretty. His 15-year fast-lane reign lies somewhere between Dennis Kozlowski's Roman romp and the excess of Caligula--overflowing with lewdness and lust. His office was just one setting in his debauched downward spiral: "Coke spread out on the coffee table," a beautiful, available woman on his black couch. In short, as he puts it, "nothing off-limits."

As ugly as Yetnikoff makes himself out to be, he is just as unkind to the other larger-than-life characters in the industry. Michael Jackson is a whiner who calls on Yetnikoff to do his dirty work. Industry heavyweights Tommy Mottola and Allen Grubman come off as a couple of backstabbing sycophants. Ex-CBS chief Larry Tisch is an "evil dwarf." Barbra Streisand is a "kvetch."

Throughout the wild ride, business is phenomenal, though it's hard for the reader to fathom how it ever gets done. And while the story is clearly one-sided, it's riveting insider dish for those who are interested in seeing (and smelling) an industry's dirty laundry.

--Ellen Florian