[2007-10-01] Leonard Cohen "Various Positions: A Life Of Leonard Cohen" paperback book by Ira B. Nadel

Linda · **Posted:** Sat Jan 26, 2008 7:42 pm

From Publishers Weekly
The flamboyant life of Canadian singer/songwriter, poet and novelist Leonard Cohen (b. 1934) is given straightforward treatment in this authorized biography by Nadel, a book reviewer for the CBC and professor of English at the University of British Columbia. The chief virtues of the book are its thorough research and its honesty. Clearly an admirer of Cohen's work, Nadel is unstinting in his depiction of his subject as one who has "led a life of unfettered romance, largely free of obligations or responsibility." From Cohen's precocious childhood in the Jewish community of Montreal through his years as one of Canada's most promising young poets, to his intermittent career as a sort of lugubrious rock star--"the prince of bummers"--the artist comes across as egotistical, charming, dilettantish and moody, swinging wildly between vainglory and self-pity. He was an improbabale singer: even Cohen compared his voice to a bumblebee--in theory it shouldn't fly, but it does. The melodrama of his life seems manufactured to fit his gifts as both singer and songwriter, but these talents are difficult to evoke in prose, and Nadel isn't likely to convince anyone who isn't yet a fan of Cohen's abilities. The faithful, however, will light scented candles as they follow the well-traced turns of the artist's life. Photos. Copyright © 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Canadian poet/singer/songwriter Cohen has had an unconventional career, culminating in pop music stardom at the age of 54. Nadel expands on his earlier Leonard Cohen: A Life in Art (ECW Pr., 1994) and updates Loranne S. Dorman & Clive L. Rawlins's Leonard Cohen: Prophet of the Heart (Omnibus Pr., 1990) in this biography, which was "benignly tolerated" by Cohen, whose somber songs have been described as "music to slit your wrists by." Nadel used interviews with Cohen and his friends and extensive excerpts from his prose, poems, letters, and lyrics to reveal insights into Cohen's enigmatic life and career. Obsessions with beautiful women, bouts of depression, and an ascetic exploration of Zen Buddhism are all recounted. Occasional factual errors (e.g., Nadel implies that Judy Collins composed her Joni Mitchell-penned hit "Both Sides Now") do not prevent the book from being the most authoritative work yet on the "poet laureate of pessimism." Recommended for popular music collections of public libraries. --Lloyd Jansen, Stockton-San Joaquin Cty. P.L., Cal. Copyright © 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Leonard Cohen was once a familiar figure on the pop music scene. Some held that his monotone delivery and the ethereal lilt of his verses made him a rock and roll troubadour or a modern Shelley. Others found him a mopey old poet trying to co-opt rock for the usual rewards: money, drugs, and chicks. Perhaps both views were right, but now that his ubiquity has passed (heard "Suzanne" much lately?), it's easier to see him as an artist of some depth and intensity. He was already an established novelist and poet when he started recording in 1967, so Nadel's study is fittingly more a literary than a rock bio--quiet of tone, serious without being worshipful. Drawing on Cohen's own archives, Nadel plots aspects of Cohen's life--Zen, love affairs, drug use--against the evolution of his writing. He fashions a biography that is revealing but also remindful of its subject at his best. --Mike Tribby

Product Description
From reviews of the hardcover edition:

"[Various Positions is] more a literary than a rock bio--quiet of tone, serious without being worshipful. Drawing on Cohen's own archives, Nadel plots aspects of Cohen's life--Zen, love affairs, drug use--against the evolution of his writing. He fashions a biography that is revealing but also mindful of its subject at his best." --Booklist

"An excellent biography, one that manages to be both thoroughly scholarly and genuinely entertaining at the same time." --Montreal Gazette

"An honest and sympathetic biography." --New York Times Book Review

"The most authoritative work yet on the 'poet laureate of pessimism.'" --Library Journal

Known as the "Prince of Bummers," Leonard Cohen is a multi-talented poet, singer-songwriter, novelist, and Zen Buddhist whose career has spanned more than forty years and inspired countless other artists. In this critically acclaimed biography originally published in 1996 by Pantheon Books, Ira Nadel draws on extensive interviews with Cohen, as well as excerpts from his unpublished letters, journals, notebooks, songs, and other writings, to offer a full portrait of this enigmatic man and his artistic career. A new concluding chapter brings Cohen's story up-to-date, including the release of the albums Dear Heather, Ten New Songs, The Essential Leonard Cohen, and Blue Alert, as well as the publication of Book of Longing and the screening of the documentary film Leonard Cohen, I'm Your Man.

From The Inside Flap
Incorporating previously unpublished letters, journals, notebooks, songs, and other writings--a massive archive that Cohen himself has preserved--and hours of interviews with Cohen and his closest friends and colleagues, Ira Nadel gives readers an extraordinary rich and revealing life of one of the most fascinating and artists of our time. Photos.

About The Author
Ira B. Nadel, Professor of English and Distinguished University Scholar at the University of British Columbia, is also the author of biographies of Tom Stoppard, Ezra Pound, and David Mamet.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0292717326/?tag=imwan-20

[2007-10-01] Leonard Cohen "Various Positions: A Life Of Leonard Cohen" paperback book by Ira B. Nadel

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