Guitarist Jimmy Page formed a skiffle band when he was 13, joined the Yardbirds at age 22, and became the creative force behind Led Zeppelin two years later in 1968. This biography deals largely with the enormous success—and excess—of the seminal rock group in the early 1970s. Longtime rock journalist Salewicz (Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer) draws heavily from published interviews with Page and others and from the archival work of Dave Lewis (e.g., Led$SPACE$Zeppelin: The Concert File). Salewicz explores the interpersonal dynamics of Led Zeppelin but fails to capture the essence of Page. Near the end of the book he inserts himself as a character and pads the already overlong text with two long interviews he did with his subject in 1977 and 1979. His writing is often overly casual, and his fondness for block quotes cries out for a good editor. VERDICT Somewhere in this saga a more focused biography is struggling to escape, but the minutiae in this book will overwhelm even the most obsessive Led Zeppelin fans.—Thomas Karel, Franklin & Marshall Coll. Lib., Lancaster, PA