Leonard Cohen On Leonard Cohen



At 600-plus pages, this collection of interviews from various sources presents the singular Leonard Cohen in his own voice. The earliest piece is an interview on Canadian television in 1966; the most recent is an article in the Guardian from January of this year. Editor Burger divides the book into four parts: the 1960s and 1970s, when Cohen released some of his more durable classics, including “Suzanne,” “Bird on the Wire,” and “Famous Blue Raincoat”; the 1980s, when he released only two studio albums, one of which included his most famous song, the iconic “Hallelujah”; the 1990s, when he briefly flirted with living the life of a monk; and the new millennium, when he remarkably enjoyed the biggest successes of his long career. Burger includes interviews from major publications and media outlets (Rolling Stone, Maclean’s, New Musical Express, New York Times, CBC). Many of these pieces have not previously appeared in print. Cohen is endlessly quotable and endlessly entertaining, and there is great joy in reading his words, including the numerous pull quotes scattered throughout the text, such as “Professionalism is the enemy of creativity and imagination.” With a foreword by Suzanne Vega, this is a must for Cohen fans.


Publisher: Chicago Review Press; First Edition edition (April 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1613747586
ISBN-13: 978-1613747582