'Fryderyk Chopin' already qualifies as one of the best biographies of the year

It is well known that Chopin, the Polish Mozart, died at a relatively young age – 39. In fact Berlioz aptly remarked that “Chopin was dying all of his life.” Even his famous lover, George Sand, wrote, ”For nine years, although I was so full of life, I was bound to a corpse.” No doubt Chopin suffered terribly until his death in 1849, but what magic he created in those too-few years of life has filled quite a few volumes, not the least of which is Alan Walker’s latest 700-page-plus biography, Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times.

 Spoiler Alert: If you are an adorer of Chopin’s music and won’t countenance any disparaging words about him for fear that they may knock him off that pedestal you’ve placed him on, or, for that matter, if you’re the opposite kind who enjoys reading about a good hard fall from grace, , neither applies here. And even though Alan Walker’s MRI-thorough biography leaves no letter unopened, no