In 1925 Garrick Gaieties put two new names in lights; twenty-eight musical comedies, eight movies, and 550 songs later, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz 'Larry' Hart were still creating some of the loveliest music and most literate lyrics Broadway has ever known. Their songs seem to have been born of a relationship blessed by the gods. But the truth is less melodic. This dual biography traces the often inharmonious personal relationship that drove Rodgers and Hart to the heights of their collaborative talents. Even as their personalities and habits clashed, they combined their songwriting gifts to produce such classic hits as 'Spring Is Here' and 'My Funny Valentine' and shows like Babes in Arms and Pal Joey. Richard Rodgers was a charming, handsome man, a brilliant composer who studied relentlessly as a child and who was totally dedicated to his music, without much time for frivolity. His father was a highly respected physician, and ultimately, in keeping with an all-American image, Richard Rodgers married his childhood sweetheart. Lorenz Hart was an enchanting, puckish, but inwardly tortured character. He detested his short and disproportioned body and was convinced that no woman could ever love him. Mabel Mercer says that 'Larry was the saddest man I ever met,' and Edith Meiser called him 'the American Toulouse-Lautrec.' As he grew older, Hart developed a bizarre life-style in contrast with his composer-partner. One of the most interesting associations in the book concerns Milton 'Doc' Bender, a dentist infatuated with show business. Bender's influence on Hart was disruptive and, many claim, unhealthy. Despite their phenomenal success in the late thirties, Rodgers found it more and more difficult to work with Larry Hart.