I'm Your Man
The Life of Leonard Cohen
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4.1 • 51 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen is one of the most important and influential musical artists of the past fifty years—and one of the most elusive. In I’m Your Man, journalist Sylvie Simmons, one of the foremost chroniclers of the world of rock ’n’ roll and popular music, explores the extraordinary life and creative genius of Leonard Cohen.
I’m Your Man is an intimate and insightful appreciation of the man responsible for “Suzanne,” “Bird on a Wire,” “Hallelujah,” and so many other unforgettable, oft-covered ballads and songs. Based on Simmons’s unparalleled access to Cohen—and written with her hallmark blend of intelligence, integrity, and style—I’m Your Man is the definitive biography of a major musical artist widely considered in a league with the great Bob Dylan.
Readers of Life by Rolling Stone Keith Richards and Patti Smith’s phenomenal Just Kids will be riveted by this fascinating portrait of a singular musical icon.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this vibrant and enthusiastic chronicle of Leonard Cohen's life, music critic Simmons (Neil Young: Reflections in Broken Glass) draws extensively on interviews with Cohen's friends and associates, as well as on his private archives, his unpublished writings, and his published stories and poetry. The author narrates Cohen's life from his childhood and youth in Montreal where he started writing poetry and stories when he was 15 through his aborted college career to his move to Manhattan in pursuit of music; his rise to fame with such songs as "Suzanne," "Bird on a Wire," and "Hallelujah" (one of pop music's most recorded songs); his often difficult relationships with women; and his search for tranquility and order in his embrace of Buddhism. Carefully weaving the threads of all of his songs and albums through the patterns of his life, Simmons craftily explores the themes that regularly mark Cohen's work: desire, regret, suffering, love, hope, and hamming it up. Cohen emerges from this definitive biography as a sensitive and intensely serious artist whose reverence for the word and deep love and respect for his audiences continues "to dissolve all the boundaries between word and song, between the song and the truth, and the truth and himself, his heart and its aching."
Customer Reviews
Extremely well written and compelling.
Anyone who enjoys language will find the writer of this book A grammarian! Leonard Cohen was a man of profound use of words and emotions. The writer of this book has the same ability to convey deep and contemplative revelations. The book is very interesting. Leonard Cohen absolutely ‘came alive’ as the pages turned. I would suggest that you check with Wikipedia on many of the other people discussed in the book. It expands the experience Leonard Cohen was having in his life to learn more about the main characters in his life as well as Leonard himself. You will not be disappointed by this book. It is interesting and well written. It did a good job of making Leonard feel real and did well with the complications of his personality and temperament. Really really good book!