Leonard Cohen, Untold Stories: The Early Years

Michael Posner

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781982152628
• eBook ISBN:
  9781982152635
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Literary Biographies

The extraordinary life of one of the world's greatest music and literary icons, in the words of those who knew him best. Poet, novelist, singer-songwriter, artist, prophet, icon—there has never been a figure like Leonard Cohen. He was a true giant in contemporary western culture, entertaining and inspiring people everywhere with his work. From his groundbreaking and bestselling novels, The Favourite Game and Beautiful Losers, to timeless songs such as "Suzanne, " "Dance Me to the End of Love, " and "Hallelujah, " Cohen is a cherished artist. His death in 2016 was felt around the world by the many fans and followers who would miss his warmth, humour, intellect, and piercing insights. Leonard Cohen, Untold Stories chronicles the full breadth of his extraordinary life. The first of three volumes—The Early Years—follows him from his boyhood in Montreal to university, and his burgeoning literary career to the world of music, culminating with his first international tour in 1970.Through the voices of those who knew him best—family and friends, colleagues and contemporaries, rivals, business partners, and his many lovers—the book probes deeply into both Cohen's public and private life. It also paints a portrait of an era, the social, cultural, and political revolutions that shook the 1960s.In this revealing and entertaining first volume, bestselling author and biographer Michael Posner draws on hundreds of interviews to reach beyond the Cohen of myth and reveal the unique, complex, and compelling figure of the real man.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Introduction
• Chapter One: The House of Cohen
• Chapter Two: Lenny, Prince of Westmount
• Chapter Three: Trace of a Wound, Mantle of an Artist
• Chapter Four: The Birth of the Magus
• Chapter Five: All the World Is in Front of You
• Chapter Six: My Freedom Is Fragile
• Chapter Seven: All the Lonesome Heroes
• Chapter Eight: Is There Any Fire Left?
• Chapter Nine: I Must Be a Singer
• Chapter Ten: Never Finished, Only Abandoned
• Chapter Eleven: Nashville Blues
• Chapter Twelve: A Flake of Your Life
• Epilogue
• Photographs
• Acknowledgements
• Appendix: Dramatis Personae
• About the Author
• Copyright