The Demons of Leonard Cohen

The Demons of Leonard Cohen PDF Author: Francis Mus
Publisher: University of Ottawa Press
ISBN: 0776631225
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 299

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Book Description
"With my jingle in your brain, Allow the Bridge to arch again" How are we to understand Leonard Cohen’s plea? Who speaks to whom in this oeuvre spanning six decades? In search of an answer to this question this study considers the different guises or “demons” that the Canadian singer-songwriter adopts. The countless roles assumed by Cohen’s personas are not some innocent game, but strategies in response to the sometimes conflicting demands of a “life in art”: they serve as masks that represent the performer’s face and state of mind in a heightened yet detached way. In and around the artistic work they are embodied by different guises and demons: image (the poser), artistry (the writer and singer), alienation (the stranger and the confidant), religion (the worshipper, prophet, and priest), and power (the powerful and powerless). Ultimately, Cohen’s artistic practice can be read as an attempt at forging interpersonal contact. The wide international circulation of Cohen’s work has resulted in a partial severing with the context of its creation. Much of it has filtered through the public image forged by the artist and his critics in concerts, interviews, and reflective texts. Less a biography than a reception study—supplemented with extensive archival research, unpublished documents, and interviews with colleagues and privileged witnesses—it sheds new light on the dynamic of a comprehensive body of work spanning a period of sixty years. Published in English.

The Demons of Leonard Cohen

The Demons of Leonard Cohen PDF Author: Francis Mus
Publisher: University of Ottawa Press
ISBN: 0776631225
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 299

Get Book Here

Book Description
"With my jingle in your brain, Allow the Bridge to arch again" How are we to understand Leonard Cohen’s plea? Who speaks to whom in this oeuvre spanning six decades? In search of an answer to this question this study considers the different guises or “demons” that the Canadian singer-songwriter adopts. The countless roles assumed by Cohen’s personas are not some innocent game, but strategies in response to the sometimes conflicting demands of a “life in art”: they serve as masks that represent the performer’s face and state of mind in a heightened yet detached way. In and around the artistic work they are embodied by different guises and demons: image (the poser), artistry (the writer and singer), alienation (the stranger and the confidant), religion (the worshipper, prophet, and priest), and power (the powerful and powerless). Ultimately, Cohen’s artistic practice can be read as an attempt at forging interpersonal contact. The wide international circulation of Cohen’s work has resulted in a partial severing with the context of its creation. Much of it has filtered through the public image forged by the artist and his critics in concerts, interviews, and reflective texts. Less a biography than a reception study—supplemented with extensive archival research, unpublished documents, and interviews with colleagues and privileged witnesses—it sheds new light on the dynamic of a comprehensive body of work spanning a period of sixty years. Published in English.

The Demons of Leonard Cohen

The Demons of Leonard Cohen PDF Author: Francis Mus
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780776629926
Category : Canadian poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
"Who speaks in Leonard Cohen's oeuvre? By identifying the many guises in which Cohen presents himself to his audience, Francis Mus seeks to formulate an answer to this question. The countless roles assumed by Cohen's persona are not some innocent game, but strategies in response to the sometimes conflicting demands of a 'life in art': they serve as masks that represent the performer's face and state of mind in a heightened yet detached way. In and around the artistic work, they are embodied in different guises or 'demons': image (the poser), artistry (the writer and singer), alienation (the stranger and the confidant), religion (the worshipper, prophet, or priest), and power (the powerful or powerless). Ultimately, Cohen's artistic practice can be read as an attempt at forging interpersonal contact. The wide international circulation of Cohen's work has resulted in a partial severing with the context of its creation. Much of it has filtered through the public image forged by the artist and his critics in concerts, interviews and reflective texts. Consequently, this monograph is less a biography than a reception study, supplemented with extensive archival research, unpublished documents, and interviews with colleagues and privileged witnesses. At the same time, this book sheds new light on the dynamic of a comprehensive oeuvre spanning a period of sixty years."--

Leonard Cohen, Untold Stories: The Early Years

Leonard Cohen, Untold Stories: The Early Years PDF Author: Michael Posner
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 1982152621
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 496

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Book Description
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.

Leonard Cohen: A Remarkable Life

Leonard Cohen: A Remarkable Life PDF Author: Anthony Reynolds
Publisher: Omnibus Press
ISBN: 0857127845
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 502

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Book 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 video 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. Gradually, despite Cohen’s own good-natured evasiveness over the past 40 years, a surprisingly frank portrait begins to emerge of the legendary figure who commands unparalleled loyalty from his fans and followers, young and old. From the distant days of his penniless beginnings as a much-praised poet in Montreal, through the travels, affairs and religious crisis to his latest tours, Cohen’s extraordinary life and body of work is examined as never before. The book includes many previously unpublished photographs.

A Ballet of Lepers

A Ballet of Lepers PDF Author: Leonard Cohen
Publisher: Canongate Books
ISBN: 1838852948
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 275

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Book Description
Before ‘Hallelujah’, ‘Suzanne’ and ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’, the young Leonard Cohen was a gifted writer of prose. In this previously unpublished work, readers will discover the magic that animated Cohen’s unique voice was present from the very beginning. A Ballet of Lepers comprises Cohen’s first novel and short stories, written between 1956 in Montreal and 1961, when he had settled on the island of Hydra in Greece. The titular story follows a reclusive man whose life is invigorated when his grandfather comes to live with him. The book explores themes that would permeate Cohen’s later work, from shame and unworthiness to sexual desire and longing. Meditative, surprising and provocative, A Ballet of Lepers reveals the great artist like never before.

I'm Your Man

I'm Your Man PDF Author: Sylvie Simmons
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
ISBN: 0771080425
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 588

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Book Description
The definitive biography of one of the most emigmatic, beloved, and celebrated artists of our time. Leonard Cohen's extensive and successful recent worldwide tour has demonstrated that his popularity across generations and borders has never been greater. Cohen's life is one of singular mystique. This major in-depth biography is the book Cohen's fans have been waiting for. Acclaimed writer/journalist Sylvie Simmons has interviewed more than 100 figures from Cohen's life and work, including his main muses; the women in his life -- from Suzanne and Marianne to Rebecca de Mornay and Anjani Thomas; artists such as Rufus Wainwright, Nick Cave, David Crosby, Judy Collins, and Philip Glass; his record producers; his closest friends, from childhood to adulthood; and many of the spiritual figures who have influenced his life. Cohen, notoriously private, has granted interviews himself. Thoroughly researched and thoughtful, penetrating and lively, fascinating and revealing of stories and facts never read before, I'm Your Man offers new perspectives on Cohen and his life. It will be one of the most talked-about books of the season, and for years to come.

The Persona of Ingmar Bergman

The Persona of Ingmar Bergman PDF Author: Barbara Young
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442245662
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
Born to a mother who did not want him and a father who humiliated him during his upbringing, Ingmar Bergman somehow endured his dysfunctional family to become one of the great artists of the twentieth century. However, the scars left from his early agony affected him both physically and emotionally. He suffered with a disabling psychosomatic gastrointestinal illness and serious problems in his interpersonal relationships. In The Persona of Ingmar Bergman: Conquering Demons through Film, Barbara Young looks at how the director’s personal life shaped his creative output. A practicing psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Young probes Bergman’s relationships with his parents, his wives, his children, and his colleagues to explore the meanings of his many films. As Bergman gradually began to work through his psychological problems, he accomplished something that few people have ever done—he analyzed himself. The films examined in this study include the majority of his features, including The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, The Virgin Spring, Through a Glass Darkly, The Hour of the Wolf, The Passion of Anna, Cries and Whispers, Face to Face, Autumn Sonata, Fanny and Alexander, and Persona. Young also draws upon recorded interviews and Bergman's autobiographical novels to provide further insight into the director's creative process. While many books have been written about Bergman and analysts have studied particular films, this volume represents a unique attempt approach to understanding an artist through his art. The Persona of Ingmar Bergman will appeal to film and art students, as well as those in the psychotherapy profession, and of course, the director’s fans throughout the world.

Demons and the Making of the Monk

Demons and the Making of the Monk PDF Author: David BRAKKE
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674028651
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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Book Description
In this finely written study of demonology and Christian spirituality in fourth- and fifth-century Egypt, David Brakke examines how the conception of the monk as a holy and virtuous being was shaped by the combative encounter with demons. Drawing on biographies of exceptional monks, collections of monastic sayings and stories, letters from ascetic teachers to their disciples, sermons, and community rules, Brakke crafts a compelling picture of the embattled religious celibate.

The Contemporary Leonard Cohen

The Contemporary Leonard Cohen PDF Author: Kait Pinder
Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press
ISBN: 1771125624
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
The Contemporary Leonard Cohen is an exciting new study that offers an original explanation of Leonard Cohen’s staying power and his various positions in music, literature, and art. The death of Leonard Cohen received media attention across the globe, and this international star remains dear to the hearts of many fans. This book examines the diversity of Cohen’s art in the wake of his death, positioning him as a contemporary, multi-media artist whose career was framed by the twentieth-century and neoliberal contexts of its production. The authors borrow the idea of “the contemporary” especially from philosophy and art history, applying it to Cohen for the first time—not only to the drawings that he included in some of his books but also to his songs, poems, and novels. This idea helps us to understand Cohen’s techniques after his postmodern experiments with poems and novels in the 1960s and 1970s. It also helps us to see how his most recent songs, poems, and drawings developed out of that earlier material, including earlier connections to other writers and musicians. Philosophically, “the contemporary” also sounds out the deep feelings that Cohen’s work still generates in readers and listeners. Whether these feelings are spiritual or secular, sincere or ironic, we get them partly from the sense of timeliness and the sense of timelessness in Cohen’s lyrics and images, which speak to our own lives and times, our own struggles and survival. From a set of international collaborators, The Contemporary Leonard Cohen delivers an appreciative but critical examination of one of our dark luminaries.

Zen Confidential

Zen Confidential PDF Author: Shozan Jack Haubner
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834829053
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
A screenwriter and stand-up comic’s hilarious and profound account of his journey into Zen monkhood—featuring a foreword by Leonard Cohen Shozan Jack Haubner is the David Sedaris of Zen Buddhism: a brilliant humorist and analyst of human foibles, whose hilarity is informed by the profound insights that have dawned on him—as he's stumbled and fallen into spirituall practice. Raised in a truly strange family of Mel-Gibson-esque Catholic extremists, he went on to study philosophy (becoming very un-Catholic in the process) and to pursue a career as a screenwriter and stand-up comic in the clubs of L.A. How he went from life in the fast lane to life on the stationary meditation cushion is the subject of this laugh-out-loud funny account of his experiences. Whether he’s dealing with the pranks of a juvenile delinquent assistant in the monastery kitchen or experiencing profound compassion in the presence of his spiritual teacher, Haubner’s voice is one you'll be compelled to listen to. Not only because it’s highly entertaining, but because of its remarkable insight into the human condition.