A Ballet of Lepers: A Novel and Stories

(Hardback, Main)

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Description

In A Ballet of Lepers Leonard Cohen explores themes that would come to permeate his later works - shame stemming from feelings of unworthiness; sexual desire, in all its sacred and profane dimensions; and longing, whether it be for love, family, freedom or transcendence. A haunting examination of these elements in tandem, this novel and stories are about toxic relationships and the lengths we go to maintain them.

Meditative and surprising, A Ballet of Lepers offers a playful, provocative and penetrating glimpse into the world-weary lives of Cohen's characters, and a window into the early art of a storytelling master.

Reviews

'Praise for The Flame: The last word in love and despair . . . Full of youthful spark, beauty and romance . . . Elegantly and posthumously published . . . Leonard Cohen does not use language to pose, startle or reinvent. Words are his old comrades, and see him through to the end' - Observer, Poetry book of the month

'Cohen was a poet before he was a musician, and with this posthumous collection his career completes its circle. Encompassing poems and lyrics written in his last decade, as well as self-portraits and notebook extracts, the book is introduced by his son Adam Cohen' - Financial Times, Best Poetry Books of 2018

'Cohen's enduring, beautiful bleakness is the draw here. His gift for understated melancholia is on each blackening page' - Daily Mail, Best Books of 2018

'We'll be listening to Cohen - still smirking and smiling - for decades to come, with this collection as our companion' - Spectator

'For his final publication, he left almost nothing to chance . . . The Flame shows the emphasis that Cohen put on distillation . . . Included in various proportions are love, sex, death, regret, exaltation, piety and gentle fondness. The blending of the earthy with the spiritual would give John Donne and Marvin Gaye a run for their money' - Guardian

'The Flame is a gift . . . These poems and lyrics are as startling and stirring, as clever, funny and sorrowful as we came to expect from a poet/singer/songwriter . . . [A] treasure trove' - Big Issue

Author Bio

Leonard Cohen began his artistic career in 1956 with the publication of his first book of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies. He went on to publish 12 more books, including two celebrated novels, and gained worldwide recognition as an iconic singer-songwriter. He released 14 studio albums, including three in the last years of his life when he also became one of the most acclaimed arena-performing artists in the world.

Among his numerous honours, he is the recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award 2010, the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature 2011, the inaugural New England PEN Award for Excellence in Lyrics 2012, the 2016 Juno Awards for Song of the Year and Album of the Year, and he has been inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the US Songwriters Hall of Fame. He died in November 2016.