A Broken Hallelujah: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen (Englisch) Gebundene Ausgabe – 14. April 2014

Gebundene Ausgabe: 256 Seiten

Verlag: Sandstone Press Ltd (15. Mai 2014)

Sprache: Englisch

ISBN-10: 1908737867

ISBN-13: 978-1908737861

Pressestimmen

‚Provokes thought and emotion on every page.‘ – Richard Holloway ‚He clearly loves Leonard and those who love Leonard will enjoy – and maybe even love – Leibovitz.‘ – Michael Simmons, Mojo ‚… this illuminating critical biography.‘ – Alan Taylor, The Herald ‚Leibovitz’s well-written, non gossipy book is a TREASURE and a must-have for all Cohen fans.‘ – Val Hennessy — Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

Über den Autor und weitere Mitwirkende

Liel Leibovitz is the author/co-author of four books that include The Chosen Peoples (Simon & Schuster, 2010) with Todd Gitlin, and with Matthew Miller Lili Marlene: The Soldiers‘ Song of WWII (Norton, 2009) and Fortunate Sons: The 120 Chinese Boys who Came to America, Went to School, and Revolutionized an Ancient Civilization (Norton, 2011). Leibovitz is assistant professor of Communications at New York University and an editor at Tablet: The online magazine of Jewish life and culture.

In this philosophical biography, Liel Leibovitz looks at what it is that makes musician/philosopher/poet Leonard Cohen an enduring international figure in the cultural imagination. Born into a Canadian religious Jewish family, for years a reclusive lyricist on the Greek island of Hydra, known for his bold political commentary, his devotion to Buddhist thought and his later despair over contemporary Zionism, Cohen hardly follows the rules of a conventional rock star. Yet the prophetic themes of his music, often filled with pessimism and apocalyptic visions, prove redemptive to an audience that spans generations, from those who listened in the 1960’s to today. As Leonard Cohen requires, this is a passionate and personal evocation of a man who appeals to the inner spirit of his fervent followers

Why is it that Leonard Cohen receives the sort of reverence we reserve for a precious few living artists? Why are his songs, three or four decades after their original release, suddenly gracing the charts, blockbuster movie sound tracks, and television singing competitions? And why is it that while most of his contemporaries are either long dead or engaged in uninspired nostalgia tours, Cohen is at the peak of his powers and popularity?

These are the questions at the heart of A Broken Hallelujah, a meditation on the singer, his music, and the ideas and beliefs at its core. Granted extraordinary access to Cohen s personal papers, Liel Leibovitz examines the intricacies of the man whose performing career began with a crippling bout of stage fright, yet who, only a few years later, tamed a rowdy crowd on the Isle of Wight, preventing further violence; the artist who had gone from a successful world tour and a movie star girlfriend to a long residency in a remote Zen retreat; and the rare spiritual seeker for whom the principles of traditional Judaism, the tenets of Zen Buddhism, and the iconography of Christianity all align. The portrait that emerges is that of an artist attuned to notions of justice, lust, longing, loneliness, and redemption, and possessing the sort of voice and vision commonly reserved only for the prophets.

More than just an account of Cohen s life, A Broken Hallelujah is an intimate look at the artist that is as emotionally astute as it is philosophically observant. Delving into the sources and meaning of Cohen s work, Leibovitz beautifully illuminates what Cohen is telling us and why we listen so intensely