Book of Mercy (eBook)

Leonard Cohen began his artistic career in 1956 with the publication of his first book of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies. He went on to publish 12 more books, including two celebrated novels and gained worldwide recognition as an iconic singer-songwriter. He released 14 studio albums, including three in the last years of his life when he also became one of the most acclaimed arena performing artists in the world. Among his numerous honours, he is the recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award 2010, the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature 2011, the inaugural New England PEN Award for Excellence in Lyrics 2012, the 2016 Juno Awards for Song of the Year and Album of the Year, and he has been inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the US Songwriters Hall of Fame. He died in November 2016.

PRAISE FOR LEONARD COHEN: As strong a poet as he is a musician

Utterly unique and impossible to imitate no matter how hard we tried

There are very, very few people who occupy the ground that Leonard Cohen walks on

He is a writer of terrific energy and colour, a Rabelaisian comic and a visualiser

There is something irresistible about Cohen's charm

Exceptional. Clear yet steamy, cosmic yet private, both playful and profound. . . as soulful a credo as he has ever put on paper

Leonard Cohen was the poet laureate of the lack, the psalmist of the privation, who made imperfection gorgeous

Awe-inspiring . . . Cohen emerges as the wry, sensual mystic his champions have always known he was

Playful, colourful, erotic . . . brilliant and sharp as flint

The best bring an ironic, world-weary sensibility to bear on themes of ageing, sex, sensuality and spirituality