With Conrad Black's fraud trial nearing, the revelations are now coming thick and fast with the release of London journalist Tom Bower's new book Conrad and Lady Black: Dancing On The Edge.

Brutal stuff. Fascinating but it leave you wanting to take a long shower. The author paints a picture of greed, arrogance, contempt, and an extraordinary capability for conflicts of interest that are pathological. An appalling bore, Black also comes across as someone with an extraordinary capacity for self-delusion.

Here is an extract from The Sunday Times.

Black of course has hit back.

He has attacked what he calls Bower's "malicious novel" in the Telegraph. "His key-hole, smut-mongering side-piece portrayal of my wife as a man-eating sex maniac prior to her marriage to me, is disgusting." And so it goes.

But for Black, the journey downhill continues. Canadian broadcaster CTV is showing the movie Shades of Black next month, according to news reports.

It stars Albert Schultz as Black and Hollywood actress Lara Flynn Boyle showing how much of a piece of work his wife, Barbara Amiel Black, could be.