Robert Kimballis a historian of the American musical theater whose books includeThe Gershwins(with Alfred Simon),Reminiscing with Sissle and Blake(with William Bolcom),Reading Lyrics(with Robert Gottlieb), and volumes devoted to the complete lyrics of Lorenz Hart, Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Frank Loesser. He is the longtime advisor to the Cole Porter Musical and Literary Property Trust, and the editor of several books on Cole Porter. He received a Drama Desk Award for his rediscovery of lost musical-theater manuscripts in a Secaucus, New Jersey warehouse.
“Any treasury of Porter’s classic ditties ought to be worth its weight in gilded wit, and this edition is no exception. It’s delightful, it’s delicious, it’s de-lovely. . . . His technical prowess as a versifier wasn’t just his best-kept secret—it was the secret weapon of his urbane charm.”—David Barber, The New York Times Book Review