Garden variety bio of the Kinks. Does share some unattractive Ray Davies characteristics. ( )

Being a narrative of the career of one of the greatest of the British invasion bands, who made rock music as well as it can be made for about a decade, and then lingered for several decades more in a long decline which nonetheless had its occasional commercial and critical high points. There are now, thankfully, several books available which treat of the band or its two main figures, the Davies brothers, and this account is very similar, though it does differ in several places, some crucial, in its factual narrative. The book reads very well and the story, with its feuds, contractual blunders, and usually reliable critical evaluations of some extremely worthwhile music, is of considerable interest even beyond fans of the group; the main weakness of the book is that it lacks a little detail around the edges, such as Ray Davies' barely mentioned children and later marriages. ( )