Leonard Cohen is one of our favorite songwriters, but in addition to his excellent music, he also published a number of books of poetry and fiction. Here are some of the best Leonard Cohen books — including both biographies and books by the songwriter.
This week marks the anniversary of his death in 2016. We remember his life and work with this reading guide to the best Leonard Cohen Books …
7. A Broken Hallelujah: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen
by Liel Leibovitz
Why is it that Leonard Cohen receives the sort of reverence we reserve for a precious few living artists? Why are his songs, three or four decades after their original release, suddenly gracing the charts, blockbuster movie sound tracks, and television singing competitions? And why is it that while most of his contemporaries are either long dead or engaged in uninspired nostalgia tours, Cohen is at the peak of his powers and popularity?
These are the questions at the heart of A Broken Hallelujah, a meditation on the singer, his music, and the ideas and beliefs at its core. Granted extraordinary access to Cohen’s personal papers, Liel Leibovitz examines the intricacies of the man whose performing career began with a crippling bout of stage fright, yet who, only a few years later, tamed a rowdy crowd on the Isle of Wight, preventing further violence; the artist who had gone from a successful world tour and a movie star girlfriend to a long residency in a remote Zen retreat; and the rare spiritual seeker for whom the principles of traditional Judaism, the tenets of Zen Buddhism, and the iconography of Christianity all align. The portrait that emerges is that of an artist attuned to notions of justice, lust, longing, loneliness, and redemption, and possessing the sort of voice and vision commonly reserved only for the prophets.
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IMAGE CREDIT: Takahiro Kyono – Creative Commons License via Wikimedia Commons.
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