Try Konrad Kuester's "Beethoven", publ. by Stuttgarter Verlags-Anstalt, if I recall correctly. It's a straightforward, no-nonsense biography. I'm not sure if it's still available, but it's fairly recent, so it may be. Thayer-Forbes is still quite serviceable, although out-of-date. A very short one and very good: "The Life of Beethoven", by David Wyn Jones, from the series "Cambridge Lives of Composers" (or something close), Cambridge UP. But it's really just a short introduction. Solomon is definitely not recommended, for reasons already mentioned: psychobabble. -Margaret Mikulska [log in to unmask]