This book is thorough but poorly written.
It is ironic that an account of the Steely Dan phenomenon is documented by someone whose writing skills are negligable. Becker and Fagen, two contemporary literary masters by most standards, would find it strangely fitting, I suppose. Sweet's saving grace is his penchant for detail. His tome has the stories for which every avid Dan fan hungers. Recording sessions, writing sessions, band reformulations, personal melodramas, etc. These elements make it enjoyable reading, especially when accompanied by revisitations to the legendary recordings. Listening to the CD's while making one's chronological journey through this book, is distictly thrilling, as well as eye(ear)-opening. The lack of an index and of footnotes limits this volume's usefulness as a reference source however. It would be nice to see a similar effort made by a writer who posesses a similar creative energy, quirkiness and skill to that of Becker and Fagen themselves.