In this stark, unflinching self-portrait, FifthAngel (author of The Finer Points of Pain and Pleasure) reveals his essence as well as his experiences: his development as a sexual sadist, where he gets his fiendish inspiration, how he reconciles being a Master and a sadist, what love's got to do with it, and how he has come to be known as both healer and shaman.Several chapters contributed by his partners explore the journey from their side, explaining the apparent paradox of their participation. They have different goals, different destinations in mind, but for all, "Pain is how they get there." For pain itself is a tool, a means toward catharsis, transcendence, shedding artifice, revealing truth, conquering fear, overcoming personal limitations, and escaping the limits of the flesh.