 "To Hell and Back" was co-written by David Dalton and was publicized as the true story of Meat Loaf's life and career from young boy in Texas to the time of the release of his massive comeback album, "" in 1993.Included in the book were references to his drunken father beating him and even trying to kill him, how he once picked up Charles Manson on a highway, how he saw John F. Kennedy land in Dallas, and—upon hearing that Kennedy had been shot—going to Parkland Hospital, seeing Jackie Kennedy coming out of the car, along with Governor John Connally, and describes his fall into alcoholism and depression after the release of the first "Bat Out of Hell" album in 1977.It also describes how he was in New York City when he heard the news of the death of his mother and how he scrounged money for a flight home from his fellow cast in the musical he was appearing in at the time.