Leonard Cohen

Winner of the National Jewish Book Award for Biography, 2025

Leonard Cohen is a literary masterpiece — the seminal, comprehensive biography of a multitalented man who wrote more than his share of literary masterpieces himself.” — Foreword, Starred Review

“With plenty of photographs, including of Cohen at his dapper best, this is a book to get lost in.” — Booklist, Starred Review

An in-depth and amorous discussion of Cohen’s life and work, fans old and new will find this page-turner a refreshing take on the singer’s engagement with a broken heart and the laws of gravity.

Leonard Cohen has aimed high: to be all Jewish heroes at once. Like Jacob, he struggled with angels. Like David, he sang psalms and seduced women. Like Abraham, he moved from place to place and remained a stranger everywhere. But he never ceased doing what he did best: stepping into avalanches and reviving our hearts.

From Montreal and New York to the Greek island of Hydra, Leonard Cohen: The Man Who Saw the Angels Fall follows the singer’s cosmopolitan life and examines his perpetual dialogues with God, with himself, and with hotel rooms.

After more than two decades of research, Christophe Lebold, who spent time with the poet in Los Angeles, delivers a stimulating analysis of Cohen’s life and art. Gracefully blending biography and essay, he interrogates the mission Cohen set out for himself: to show us that darkness is just the flip side of light.