Muhammad Ali, James Brown, Al Green, and other celebrities made cameo appearances in the autobiography of author, Anthony L. Freeman, which is also a history of our times. Vignettes seem to be apparent in the reflector glasses worn by the author, a fast-moving young man bent on realizing a successful career as a vocalist.

As a young black child growing up in Atlanta, Anthony suffered a childhood that was marred by accidental violence, even as his country suffered from the more intentional violence and injury, with the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Senator Robert F. Kennedy. The author's life was highlighted by danger and glamour, and the narrative culminates in the march on Forsyth County, a major civil rights march in Georgia in which the author served as a marshal on January 19, 1987.

Written by an author with a narrative gift and a very readable style, Lust and Vainglory: A Close Encounter with Death and Success describes the forces and events that shaped the author's life. Even though the author knew fear at various times of his life, he never allowed it to impede progress..