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In the recap of his cast of characters at the end of Exile on Main St., Robert Greenfield mentions that these days, British model-actress Anita Pallenberg, Keith Richards's common-law wife for the better part of the '70s, is close friends with Kate Moss. It makes sense, considering the two certainly have enough in common when it comes to taste in men. But Pete Doherty's trail of bloody syringes, rehab stints and very public arrests seems like child's play when compared to the gram of heroin a day Keith and Anita would shoot up during the summer when the Rolling Stones went through the painful process of recording a double album that is arguably the best work of their career.

Rather than focusing on the music (which he's already done in S.T.P.: A Journey Through America with the Rolling Stones, and for which this book seems like a giant plug), Greenfield instead zooms in on the gossip and court intrigue of that 1971 summer. Richards, Pallenberg and their rotating cast of hangers-on descend into the depths of drug use, sexual decadence and legal entanglements, while the rest of the band waits around for Keith to yank the needle out of his arm and start anything that might bear a passing resemblance to a recording session. Unfortunately, music journalist Greenfield ruins what could have been a simple, juicy tabloid romp by setting it up as a two-act play choked with bloated prose ("Keith Richards: He is our hero. He is our antihero...our Jesus of Cool") and irritating, haughty asides.

Exile's biggest problem, though, is that while Greenfield goes to great lengths to provide contrast between the decadent Stones of yore and the corporate touring machine they are today, he never really explains how this mess of a situation righted itself. Unlike Kate and Pete, Keith and Anita turned into more than just another spoiled rock-and-roll junkie couple better known for their troubles than their talents. By the end of Exile, you really don't care. Good thing the album itself is still so interesting -- because books about it sure aren't.