The apparently effortless delight of Mozart's music seems so godlike in its inspiration that critics often give way to awe. The result is that Mozart studies are either highly technical exercises in musicology, or gushing tributes which explain little. In this biography, Maynard Solomon tackles the most intriguing and important issue of all, the roots of Mozart's creativity, and finds them in previously misunderstood details of his life. At its heart, for all his boundless energy and genius, lies rejection by his family, his patrons and his city.