Venice, Paris and other cities where Giacomo Casanova (1725–1798) restlessly traveled are brought to vivid life by food and travel writer Kelly (Cooking for Kings). Remembered today primarily for his sex life, Casanova was a polymath who trained to be a priest, worked as a violinist, soldier, faith healer and librarian, made and lost fortunes and wrote 42 books plus plays and opera libretti. He was born to an actress in Venice who thought the sickly boy was an imbecile and sent him away, aged nine, to be educated in Padua, where he flourished. The 17-year-old had his first sexual affair with two sisters, a scenario repeated throughout his life with other sisters, mothers and daughters, and even nuns. This life of sexual adventures produced eight illegitimate children and included falling in love with an apparent castrato who turned out to be a woman en travestie; he also enjoyed a life of wealth and social status in Venice after saving the life of a senator. Imprisoned there by the Inquisition, he escaped to Paris, becoming a fixture on the city's social scene. Kelly presents a colorful, sprightly biography of a singular man.

Casanova: Actor Lover Priest Spy

This vivid biography of “the world’s greatest lover” reveals surprising unknown facets of the man behind the myth.

In Casanova, noted author Ian Kelly traces the life of Giacomo Casanova, a man whose very name is synonymous with sensuality, seduction, and sexual prowess. But Casanova was more than just a great lover, he was also a businessman, diplomat, spy, and philosopher. The author of more than twenty books, including a translation of The Iliad, in his lifetime he visited every European capital city (and was expelled from many). Confidant of many infamous characters—including Madame de Pompadour, Voltaire, and Catherine the Great— Casanova was undoubtedly charismatic. But how exactly did he seduce himself into infamy?

In this richly drawn portrait, Casanova emerges as very much a product of eighteenth-century Venice. He reveled in its commedia dell’arte and Kelly posits that his successes as both a libertine and a libertarian grew from his careful study of its artifice and illusion. Food, travel, sex: Casanova’s great passions are timeless ones, and Kelly brilliantly brings to life in full flavor the grandeur of his exploits, while also articulating the fascinating personal philosophy that inspired the adventurer’s quest to bed all manner of women.

A riveting look at the life of the most legendary lover of all time—this is destined to become the definitive biography of Giacomo Casanova.