I went on a jolly day trip to Paris, and if someone had told me I wouldn't be seeing England again for over a year, I'd have laughed. If they told me in less than forty-eight hours I'd be sitting in Sante Prison in Paris, facing a one-year prison sentence ...But that, in just two months, I'd be in the South of France dining with Picasso, I would have called them mad...From accompanying violent thugs around the East End to cleaning an oven in a Parisian prison while painting for its doctor, Alan Aldridge's life was full of strange adventures and fascinating encounters even before his career as an artist took off. In Pipe Dreams, Aldridge presents a gripping, often hilarious and at times even horrifying account of some of his early experiences on the road to success.