Secret Lives of Great Composers

Secret Lives of Great Authors revealed the dirty secrets of Hemingway, Kafka, and Tolstoy. Secret Lives of Great Artists explored the bizarre behavior of Picasso, Matisse, and Monet. Now you can discover the dirty laundry of Beethoven, Wagner, Puccini, and others in Secret Lives of Great Composers an uncensored biography of the world's greatest musical geniuses. You'll learn that Hector Berlioz hatched a plan to kill his ex-fiancee, her lover, and her mother Joseph Haydn had his head stolen by amateur phrenologists days after being buried Richard Wagner dressed in pink women's lingerie Arnold Schoenberg suffered from a debilitating case of triskaidekaphobia a fear of the number 13 And much more! With outrageous stories ranging from the ridiculous (Mozart loved fart jokes) to the even more ridiculous (the absentminded Mahler frequently stirred his tea with cigarettes), Secret Lives of Great Composers is a music lesson you'll never forget.

Elizabeth Lunday is a journalist specializing in music, architecture, and art. She writes the "Masterpieces" column for mental_floss magazine and lives in Forth Worth, Texas.