Leonard Cohen: The Man Who Saw Angels Fall

(Paperback, No Edition)

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Leonard Cohen is a literary masterpiece the seminal, comprehensive biography of a multitalented man who wrote more than his share of literary masterpieces himself. Foreword, Starred Review

With plenty of photographs, including of Cohen at his dapper best, this is a book to get lost in. Booklist, Starred Review

An in-depth and amorous discussion of Cohens life and work, fans old and new will find this page-turner a refreshing take on the singers engagement with a broken heart and the laws of gravity.

Leonard Cohen has aimed high: to be all Jewish heroes at once. Like Jacob, he struggled with angels. Like David, he sang psalms and seduced women. Like Abraham, he moved from place to place and remained a stranger everywhere. But he never ceased doing what he did best: stepping into avalanches and reviving our hearts. From Montreal and New York to the Greek island of Hydra, Leonard Cohen: The Man Who Saw the Angels Fall follows the singers cosmopolitan life and examines his perpetual dialogues with God, with himself, and with hotel rooms.

After more than two decades of research, Christophe Lebold, who spent time with the poet in Los Angeles, delivers a stimulating analysis of Cohens life and art. Gracefully blending biography and essay, he interrogates the mission Cohen set out for himself: to show us that darkness is just the flip side of light.

Reviews

The book, like the singer, embraces the sacred and the profane. With plenty of photographs, including of Cohen at his dapper best, this is a book to get lost in. Booklist, Starred Review
This is a rhapsodic and fluidly written new take on Canadian poet/crooner/troubadour and pessimistic, introspective social commentator Cohen...This big biography of Cohen will appeal to a wide variety of readers, especially the philosophically minded. Library Journal
I am deeply respectful of the mind that has produced this book. Leonard Cohen, private email
Christophe Lebolds biography of one of popular musics greatest songwriters is outstanding, grounding its subject in the historical times that formed him and his art ... Leonard Cohen is a literary masterpiece the seminal, comprehensive biography of a multitalented man who wrote more than his share of literary masterpieces himself. Foreword, Starred Review
An extraordinary piece of work, at every level Its the biographical denouement that Leonard deserves Takes Cohenian biography to another level. Michael Posner, author of Leonard Cohen, Untold Stories: The Early Years
Its marvelous and highly recommended. Crammed with photos, footnotes, a blizzard of evidence, of fantastic research and opinion: this is ESSENTIAL. Jim Devlin, author of Leonard Cohen: In His Own Words and In Every Style of Passion: The Works of Leonard Cohen
The best book about Leonard Cohen. Jean-Luc Porquet, Le canard enchain
Combining scholarly biography, luminous exegesis, and metaphysics of the broken heart, this is the Summa Cohenia we needed. With Gilles Tordjmans book, this is the best homage to the work of the Christ-loving Jewish poet. Bernard Loupias, Le nouvel observateur
An erudite and amorous page-turner on the wandering Canadian that reaches beyond dates and facts. Emmanuel Dosda, Poly
Cohen ceaselessly questions the world, as Christophe Lebold brilliantly demonstrates in Leonard Cohen: LHomme qui voyait tomber les anges, a learned, vibrant, and inspired study devoted to the immortal creator of Hallelujah. Myriam Perfetti, Marianne

Author Bio

Christophe Lebold is associate professor at the University of Strasbourg (France), where he teaches literature, performance studies, and rock culture. A fan and friend of Leonard Cohen, he has traveled extensively in the poets tracks. Also a theater actor and student of Zen, he likes poets, cats, and in a good mood all sentient beings.