The reviews about this book in amazon.com are spot-on; a literary exercise this is not, and author Stephen Davis has done better (his Stones book is authoritative and sizzling throughout, and his Aerosmith autobio with the band is definitive).
Meanwhile, I'm a third of the way in and the basis of the book, Davis' "lost" notebooks from when he covered the tour for Atlantic Monthly, have hardly been mentioned. In fact, he describes a bunch of shows he obviously didn't even witness. I'm not sure he really "covered" the tour, considering. Kind of bogus.
Yet, YET, I keep reading it, and I'm enjoying it. The guy does know from whence he writes, he was there at least for part of it. But what I think sets this guy apart is his ability to place the boys of Zep and their output in the perfect cultural context, usually with a turn of phrase or key factoid. Reading this book is like listening to an aging yet talented jazz drummer laying down a tasty if sometimes cliched solo.
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