B ehind the glittering melodies and champagne wit of Cole Porter lay a life as daring, complicated, and intoxicating as any of his songs.

Born into Midwestern privilege but drawn irresistibly to the salons of Paris and the bright lights of Broadway, Porter reinvented what popular music could be—smuggling sly innuendo, cosmopolitan sophistication, and a touch of rebellion into tunes that the world couldn’t stop humming. His lyrics sparkled with elegance, but they also hinted at hidden desires, secret worlds, and the delicious tension between respectability and indulgence. This book helps explain those tensions.

This biography pulls back the velvet curtain. It reveals the man behind the music: his unconventional marriage, his private struggles, his devastating accident, and the iron will that carried him back to triumph after tragedy. From the Jazz Age’s most decadent parties to the golden age of American theater, Porter moved effortlessly among royalty, artists, and outcasts—always observing, always transforming life into lyric./h5>

Learn about Cole's life at Yale and Harvard, his glitzy life with Linda in Venice and fashionable 1920s Paris, and his later residence in the Waldorf Astoria, Williamstown, MA, and in LA. You'll read about his little-known score for a ballet that was presented a century later, his friendship with Irving Berlin, his hits and flops, the influence of Black musicians in Paris, and the impact of his worldwide travels on his lyrics. Regail with humorous stories about how he cleverly evaded censors in his lyrics and understand why films derived from his shows often omitted many of his songs. You'll also see how his tragic accident in 1937 changed his life, but also how he showed enormous courage.

Packed with historic photos, archival findings, and interviews with musicologists, cabaret performers, and music educators, this biography offers new insights and shows how modern-day stars trace his musical influence. Cole's cousin provides the Foreword.

Witty, poignant, and rich with the cultural history of an era, this is the story of a genius with the double rare gift of composing and lyrical writing.