Writers Between the Covers: The Scandalous Romantic Lives of Legendary Literary Casanovas, Coquettes, and Cads

Truth is more salacious than fiction—at least where the authors of canonical literature are concerned. Coauthors Schmidt and Rendon's (Novel Destinations: Literary Landmarks from Jane Austen's Bath to Ernest Hemingway's Key West) latest proves that life doesn't always imitate art; sometimes, it's the other way around. The book is organized by sexual classification (i.e., nymphomaniacs, cheaters, etc.), with each section offering several short titillating biographies of writers: American and European, from the18th century to the present, including Agatha Christie, Arthur Miller, and T.S. Eliot. Some love stories will be familiar to most readers (e.g., the tumultuous marriage of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald), while others, such as Frederick Douglass's adultery, may come as a surprise. While ample endnotes and a select bibliography enhance this work's scholarly merits, those efforts feel at times undermined by a sensational writing style. Still, the book's intended audience is unlikely to find that this detracts much from the title's appeal.