David Weiss (1) (1909–2002)

This is the best biographical novel about a composer (in this case, Mozart) ever written. You feel as if you are right there with Mozart, his family, and friends throughout his entire life, from the day he is born until the day he dies.

The book that first got me interested in Auguste Rodin. I picked it up as a teenager because of its sexy title. I read it more than once and found his story to be very intriguing. Because of this book, I have visited the major Rodin collections of the world and taken many photos. My Rodin web page is the most popular place on my web site.

All because of this book and its sexy title.

Why must artists always be so...tortured?

An amazon reviewer: A delectable piece of near-non-fiction about one of the most evocative and emotive artists of the nineteenth century, Auguste Rodin. I came upon this book (original hardback with cover c. 1963) via the shelves of a former paramour just after graduating from art school, a happy coincidence for a dewey-eyed artiste! Not a lover of the biography genre in particular, I devoured this book nonetheless, in part because it is loosely-based fiction, but primarily because David show more Weiss has molded a remarkable figure in his story of Auguste Rodin.

From his birth in Normandy in 1840 and first crayons at age five, through his tumultuous entree into the world as an artist (he was born to a minor police official), to the development of his work alongside some remarkable contemporaries (Monet, Renoir, Hugo, Zola, Rilke and Shaw) and the tragic affairs with Beuret and Claudel, it's a book you'll find hard pressed to close long after bedtime has come and gone (note: bring home the film _Camille Claudel_ when you have finished the book to add a little color to your perspective).

A minor flaw, which I quickly forgave as the characters emerged, might be the slightly formal tone (hasn't he heard of contractions?) in which Weiss, scholar before bestselling author, constructs his prose. Otherwise as powerful, colorful, and unforgettable a glimpse at the artist as Rodin's own Balzac. show less