Leonard Cohen: A Remarkable Life
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Review
The title really is spot on --Q magazine
Product Description
Anthony Reynolds' fascinating and detailed biography draws on scores of new interviews conducted with Cohen's band members past and present, his business associates, editors, friends, fans, producers, colleagues, enemies and peers.
As well as their revealing accounts, the author has gained access to hours of previously unpublished interviews with Cohen as well as archive recordings from several decades. The book also includes an authoritative summary of every Cohen album, with insights and recollections supplied from the musicians who appeared on the recordings.
Leonard Cohen: A Remarkable Life is a surprisingly frank portrait of the legendary figure. From the distant days of his penniless beginnings as a poet in Montreal, through the travels, affairs, religious crisis and drama of his latest tours. Cohen's extraordinary life and body of work is examined as never before.
The book includes many previously unpublished photographs.
As well as their revealing accounts, the author has gained access to hours of previously unpublished interviews with Cohen as well as archive recordings from several decades. The book also includes an authoritative summary of every Cohen album, with insights and recollections supplied from the musicians who appeared on the recordings.
Leonard Cohen: A Remarkable Life is a surprisingly frank portrait of the legendary figure. From the distant days of his penniless beginnings as a poet in Montreal, through the travels, affairs, religious crisis and drama of his latest tours. Cohen's extraordinary life and body of work is examined as never before.
The book includes many previously unpublished photographs.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a good book. Anthony Reynolds has presented a rattling good story of Leonard and his life up to a few months ago and I would heartily recommend it to anyone who already has a big interest in Leonard and his life and work as well as to those who may have come more recently to him, perhaps as a result of their attendance at the 2008-2010 World Tour performances, so well-documented, of course, on the Leonard Cohen Forum pages. And yes I am aware of previous reviews which have carped, very unkindly at times I thought, about the poor standard of proof-reading. And ok, there are a few factual inaccuracies too. But hey, it's more about the whole and not the sum of its parts which matter here.
That [bit of Aristotle] said, I still want to mention a few of the book's highlights: Leonard's Hydra and New York City years are there with a real sense of place and rhythm. The chapters on the Death Of A Ladies' Man sessions in 1976/7 and that horrendous financial crisis in 2005 are full of detail and lucid disclosures. On other matters, several Johns: Lissauer, Bilezikjian and Miller, have a lot to say and I didn't ever lose the plot once.
Leonard's had clearly been a life [of 71 years] so remarkable already, for goodness' sake, in all those busy decades prior to his massive financial crisis in 2005. Five years on, 2010, AR has taken the opportunity to detail an even more remarkable life [e.g. with almost 250 concerts since then on the so ambitious 2008-2010 Tour, with Leonard now at 76, for goodness sake - BUT for which, of course so many of us will be for ever thankful in a very weird kinda way]. I would have liked more, however, about individual songs and Philip Glass's song cycle [not a `musical', p.278] `Book Of Longing' in 2007 deserved more consideration.
AR has presented his very persuasive and up-to-date account for our serious consideration in an enjoyably friendly tone. I hooked into a verve and momentum which kept me wanting to read on and on and on. My biggest disappointment was, quite honestly and simply, when I got to the last page.
That [bit of Aristotle] said, I still want to mention a few of the book's highlights: Leonard's Hydra and New York City years are there with a real sense of place and rhythm. The chapters on the Death Of A Ladies' Man sessions in 1976/7 and that horrendous financial crisis in 2005 are full of detail and lucid disclosures. On other matters, several Johns: Lissauer, Bilezikjian and Miller, have a lot to say and I didn't ever lose the plot once.
Leonard's had clearly been a life [of 71 years] so remarkable already, for goodness' sake, in all those busy decades prior to his massive financial crisis in 2005. Five years on, 2010, AR has taken the opportunity to detail an even more remarkable life [e.g. with almost 250 concerts since then on the so ambitious 2008-2010 Tour, with Leonard now at 76, for goodness sake - BUT for which, of course so many of us will be for ever thankful in a very weird kinda way]. I would have liked more, however, about individual songs and Philip Glass's song cycle [not a `musical', p.278] `Book Of Longing' in 2007 deserved more consideration.
AR has presented his very persuasive and up-to-date account for our serious consideration in an enjoyably friendly tone. I hooked into a verve and momentum which kept me wanting to read on and on and on. My biggest disappointment was, quite honestly and simply, when I got to the last page.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This 'biography' tells us little about Leonard Cohen's remarkable life beyond his career as a musician. It is an account based upon his musical (and to a much lesser extent, literary) output in which the author uses his knowledge of the music industry to describe the vicissitudes of Leonard's career in often quite revealing detail. But there we have both the strengths and the weaknesses of the book: the interviewees are in the main session musicians and other figures in the industry who give (in general) honest accounts of their experiences with Cohen in the recording sessions (mainly) or on the road, but aside from the occasional anecdote, their observations are confined to the musical experience. Insights into Cohen the man are thus fragmentary and limited. And the book is padded out with pages of tedious commentaries on the songs in typical musical journalese style. Significantly, Cohen himself has not collaborated with the book. As such we have an account of Cohen's musical career masquerading as a biography. The remarkable life of Cohen the man remains to be documented.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have to say that I enjoyed this book. I read it in a couple of days and found it very interesting. I am not in any way an expert on Cohen and if I was I doubt I would read this. However for someone wanting to know a bit of his background it fills the bill extremely well. A number of people have complained about mistakes and poor editing. They are there but the majority are minor and easy to work around.
To sum up, if you want to learn a little about Cohens life this provides a glimpse but a reasonably comprehensive glimpse. An autobiography could be more interesting, or it could be too cleaned up. Lacking this the current book is well worth your time and money.
To sum up, if you want to learn a little about Cohens life this provides a glimpse but a reasonably comprehensive glimpse. An autobiography could be more interesting, or it could be too cleaned up. Lacking this the current book is well worth your time and money.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
VERY disappointed
This book is so badly written that I am struggling to read it. I am great Leonard Cohen fan and bought this despite other poor reveiws because I thought that as I love the man so... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Jax
It's A Wonderful Life...
Reynolds' own experience as a musician and poet make him an ideal candidate for a Cohen biog (I think they have a lot in common), and I'm sorry I was late coming to this title. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Wooster
More than 500 errors .....
A very badly written book - no biography, very little about Leonard Cohen's life, more about his albums. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Gerrida
Live and die by the details
This is a very focused biography in that it has a lot of detail regarding the regarding the recording sessions, who was present, who did what and apart from the universal... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mark S. Edwards
where was the editor?
I dont know if this book was rushed out to meet a deadline but there are some serious faults with it. Read more
Published 15 months ago by steve w
a very good read
This is a very well-researched and thoroughly fascinating book, the best biography of Leonard Cohen that I've read. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Jaylincoln
Exactly that : Remarkable..
Loved this book. I recently read Reynolds' excellent Walker Brothers biog which vividly depicted a time when popular music & its' consumption were very different animals than they... Read more
Published 15 months ago by eggstationzebra
Somebody proofread it please!
The writer has obviously made some effort in his research and interviews, and, in some ways, this is a reasonably well-executed biography in terms of its overall content, if a... Read more
Published 15 months ago by egunn41
Wonderful.
What a thoroughly excellent book this is. I have been an on-off fan of Cohen's for years, but the personal investment Reynolds displays in his subject - not least the vivid... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Penny Button
Splendid
Fluent, engaging with loads of new information on LC's recording process, particularly his latter works. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Eurydice
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