David Weiss (1909 – November 29, 2002) was an American novelist and writer best known for his bestselling 1963 biographical novel Naked Came I about the life of sculptor Auguste Rodin.
His father was a painter,[2] and after Weiss was orphaned at the age of four he was raised in Philadelphia by an aunt who owned a Russian restaurant across the street from the Academy of Music.
He also spent seven years as Eastern Story Editor for movie producer David O. Selznick, during which time he worked on the films A Farewell to Arms and Tender is the Night.
Although he wrote plays[6] and a couple of contemporary set novels, Weiss's speciality was biographical fiction – particularly of artists, such as Titian and Rembrandt.
It is not only an absorbing story but an intelligent book showing Mr Weiss again to be one of the best practitioners of the biographical novel, especially perceptive in the study of artists.’ – Edmund Fuller, The Wall Street Journal[8] ‘If all history were written as David Weiss wrote Myself, Christopher Wren, you would have to stand in line to sign up for history courses throughout the world.’ – Tom Ferris, The Miami Herald[8] The Spirit and the Flesh ‘is a monumental work in which the author’s stupendous capacity for biographical research is surpassed only by his brilliance as a novelist with a fine sense of the dramatic.’ – King Features[8] Sacred and Profane: ‘I have read a number of biographies of Mozart, but I have never been so caught up in the essential tragedy of his life, nor so moved by the frustrating and heartbreaking circumstances of his day to day struggles.’ – Sheldon Harnick[7]