Once A King, Now A Prince tells the story of a severely abused child, whose father convinced him of being evil, to the point of looking in mirrors and, upon seeing his extra-long incisors, thought he looked like a devil. His self-image, to survive this, with what little tools any small child has, was that at least he was "the king of the devils", hence the title "Once A King."

The book continues with his experiences at school, the draft, and his efforts to avoid it, as well as his music ventures leading up to graduation. Finally, upon graduation, he was "made an offer he couldn't refuse." This offer was a double entendre, in that it was for a major music Agency, headed by a former major mobster, who was part of the Capone gang. This part explains the subtitling of "The true tale of family dysfunction, the mob, sex, drugs & Rock N Roll.' The book continues with the success as depicted by walking into Elaine's with Rod Stewart and seeing all heads turn, and walking into an industry event where one whispers to another, "Hey, that's Ira Blacker." The book also doesn't hide any warts and depicts the lows of growing up and the loss that followed three years of representation by Deep Purple.