Before he became famous around the world for penning the highly controversial The Da Vinci Code, superstar author Dan Brown experimented with several career paths before landing on the one that would bring him fame, fortune, and plenty of criticism, according to the first biography on Brown releasing November 22 and written by celebrity biographer Lisa Rogak.

• Singer/Songwriter of Lite Rock Music. After college, Dan Brown moved to Hollywood to make it in the music business. His debut CD - produced with the help of A-list studio musicians and producers who worked with Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney - includes 976-LOVE, a song about paid phone sex:. Though he was billed as "the next Barry Manilow," the writing was on the wall: "The world isn't ready for a pale, balding geek shaking his booty on MTV," he lamented.
  
  
• Spanish Teacher to the Children of Celebrities. Brown's connection with Phillips Exeter Academy is well-known, but no one knows that he once taught at Beverly Hills Prep in California. "Try looking Rupert Murdoch or Michael Eisner in the eye and saying, Hey, your kid's going to fail my course," said Brown.
  
  
• Author of Cheesy Humor Books. Brown also wrote a couple of novelty books filled with bad puns. In one, he advised women to avoid men who struggle to decide between Original Recipe and Extra Crispy, while in the other he suggested men look at the bright side of going bald, penning ditties like, "Your kissable surface area is increasing," and "No more cowlicks."

Many more secrets about Dan Brown are revealed in the new book, The Man Behind the Da Vinci Code by Rogak, who has appeared as a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

The Man Behind the Da Vinci Code is published by Andrews McMeel Publishing and is on sale now in online and offline bookstores nationwide, and at www.danbrownbio.com, where excerpts from the book and snippets of songs from his two CDs are available.