Rating: 
Summary: Bodacious Indeed
Review: This book written by a man who publishes a UK-based fanzine about Steely Dan goes a long way in explaining the lives and times of the two men responsible for the band, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. While other reviewers of this book may complain that neither of them were interviewed for this book (not that Becker & Fagen would have anyway, given their notorious dislike for interviews), Brian Sweet still does a fine job in detailing the band's history and the "bios" of both men. It's interesting to read about the things going on during the recording of the Dan's early albums, numerous stories and anecdotes are contained in the book; and also the personality "quirks" of Becker & Fagen. Also interesting are the supposed meanings behind so many of the group's cryptic lyrics. While it's nice to have some sort of idea what a song is based on, too much interpretation will only drive you crazy in the long run (at least in my opinion). The book continues on through the "breakup" of Steely Dan in 1981, the "drought" that any 'Dan' fan suffered through the 80s as Becker & Fagen found other creative projects to work on and the joy we all felt when we found out the "band" was back together in the early 1990s. While this updated edition of the 1994 release doesn't really tell too much about what the guys have been doing since '94, it does give a good history up to that point. I feel after having read this book that now I have some small sense of what Becker and Fagen are like. Any Steely Dan fan who wants to learn more about the band's history should go out and grab this book if they haven't done so already.
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