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Vendor
Liepman Literary Agency
Marc Koralnik
Original language
English

LEONARD COHEN

Michael Posner

Artist, poet, novelist, singer-songwriter, icon – there has never been a figure like Leonard Cohen. He was a truly international sensation, entertaining and inspiring the world with his art. From his groundbreaking and bestselling novels, Beautiful Losers and The Favourite Game, to timeless songs such as “Suzanne” and “Hallelujah,” Cohen is one of the world's most cherished artists. His death in 2016 was felt around the world by the legion fans and fellow artists who would miss his warmth, humor, intellect, and piercing insights.

Leonard Cohen, the Untold Stories follows the great man as he travels the globe developing his style and enigmatic character. This is the story of his early years, from boyhood in Montreal, university, and his growing career into the 60s that took him to the world's stage. It probes his public and private life, through the words of those who knew him best: his family and friends, colleagues and contemporaries, rivals, business partners, and his many lovers. From Montreal to Greece, London to Paris and New York, Cohen touched lives everywhere. It is also a snapshot of a golden era – the times that helped foster his talents and successes.

In this revealing and entertaining first of three planned volumes, bestselling author and biographer Michael Posner draws on dozens of interviews to present a uniquely true and compelling portrait of Cohen – as if we're right there beside him, overhearing a private conversation in a New York café.

MICHAEL POSNER is the author of three previous non-fiction books, including Mordecai Richler's biography The Last Honest Man and Anne Murray's biography All of Me. He is a former arts reporter and feature writer for The Globe and Mail.
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Book

Published 2020-10-01 by Simon & Schuster Canada

Comments

“An exhaustive oral history of the Canadian icon.” Nicholas Jennings, journalist and bestselling author of Lightfoot

Posner spoke to National Post about preferring oral biography because it "gives readers a fuller depiction of Cohen, as seen through the eyes of the people that were most affected by his presence."

“Sex, drugs, and poetry permeate this oral history of Leonard Cohen. . . . This book offers a seductive blend of sometimes contradictory insights.”

"[This] new book about Cohen lays bare just how tangled, busy and occasionally destructive his love life really was. [...] What emerges is the picture of an extraordinary talent who was also a compulsive womaniser, a commitment-phobe and a cheat. The book is a dizzying account of the interplay between ardour and art.

"A more poetic title for this doggedly researched oral history of Leonard Cohen's early years would be The Birth of a Ladies Man. The first entry in a three-volume series follows the poet-songwriter from his boyhood in Montreal to his first international tour in 1970."

"Leonard Cohen's posthumous album in 2019 proved he still had something profound to say, even in death. This book likewise confirms that hundreds of others have their own tales to tell about the master songwriter. The first of three volumes, it covers his early life via a myriad of fascinating interviewees, from rabbis to lovers."

It's "as if they're in a room together, sharing memories and stories," echoes Toronto Star, adding, "They're linked together with a light narrative voice that gives this biography a very intimate and personal feel."