New Leonard Cohen biography by Sylvie Simmons

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tomsakic
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New Leonard Cohen biography by Sylvie Simmons

Post by tomsakic »

I'M YOUR MAN: THE LIFE OF LEONARD COHEN is new biography written by Sylvie Simmons, the author of Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful Of Gitanes and Neil Young: Reflections in Broken Glass. In 2010 her liner notes for the CD/DVD Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight (Sony) won her an ASCAP Deems-Taylor Award.

US cover:
Image

UK cover:

Image

Canadian cover:

Image


US publication Date: September 18, 2012 (Harper Collins)
Canadian publication date: October 23, 2012 (McClelland & Stewart)
UK publication date: November 1, 2012 (Jonathan Cape / Random House)
Netherlands: October 16, 2012 (Nijgh & Van Ditmar)
Germany: October 2012 (btb Verlag)
Spain: October 2012 (Lumen)

Forthcoming editions: Norwegian, Hebrew, Danish and Polish translations

US publisher's link: http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Im-Y ... m+Your+Man
UK publisher's link: http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/editions/i ... 0224090636
M&S link (Canada): http://www.mcclelland.com/catalog/displ ... 0771080401
Amazon.com link: http://www.amazon.com/Im-Your-Man-Leona ... 0061994987
Amazon.co.uk link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Im-Your-Man-Leo ... 636&sr=1-1
Netherlands: http://www.bol.com/nl/p/i-m-your-man/9200000006516879/
Germany: http://www.randomhouse.de/Buch/I-m-your ... 345087.rhd
Spain: http://www.megustaleer.com/ficha/H419194/soy-tu-hombre
More about the author:
http://www.sylviesimmons.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvie_Simmons
http://1heckofaguy.com/2009/12/02/sylvi ... ood-stuff/
http://1heckofaguy.com/2012/03/07/sylvi ... ard-cohen/


The legend behind such songs as “Suzanne,” “Bird on the Wire” and “Hallelujah” and the poet and novelist behind such groundbreaking literary works as Beautiful Losers and Book of Mercy, Leonard Cohen is one of the most important and influential artists of our era, a man of powerful emotion and intelligence whose work has explored the definitive issues of human life—sex, religion, power, meaning, love. Cohen is also a man of complexities and seeming contradictions: a devout Jew, who is also a sophisticate and ladies’ man, as well as an ordained Buddhist monk whose name, Jikan—“ordinary silence”—is quite the appellation for a writer and singer whose life has been anything but ordinary.

I’m Your Man is the definitive account of that extraordinary life. Acclaimed music journalist Sylvie Simmons crafts a portrait of Cohen as nuanced as the man himself, drawing on a wealth of research that includes Cohen’s personal archives and more than a hundred exclusive interviews with those closest to Cohen—from his lovers, friends, monks, professors, rabbis and fellow musicians to his muses, including Rebecca De Mornay, Marianne Ihlen, Suzanne Elrod and Suzanne Verdal—and most important, with Cohen himself, whose presence infuses these pages.

Starting in Montreal, Cohen’s birthplace, where he first found fame as a poet in the fifties, Simmons follows his trail, via London and the Greek island of Hydra, to New York in the sixties, where he launched his music career. From there she traces the arc of his prodigious achievements to his remarkable retreat in the mid-nineties—when on the cusp of marriage to a beautiful actress and enjoying the success of his best-selling album to date, he entered a monastery on a rocky mountaintop above Los Angeles—and finally to his reemergence for a sold-out world tour almost fifteen years later. Whether navigating Cohen’s journeys through the back streets of Mumbai or the countless hotel rooms where he has stayed along the way, Simmons explores with equal focus every complex, contradictory strand of Cohen’s life—from the halls of academia to the arenas of rock ’n’ roll—and presents a deeply insightful portrait of both the artist and the man whose vision, spirit, depth and talent continue to move people like no one else.
J. Cape blurb:
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.
Book Description


The legend behind such songs as “Suzanne,” “Bird on the Wire” and “Hallelujah” and the poet and novelist behind such groundbreaking literary works as Beautiful Losers and Book of Mercy, Leonard Cohen is one of the most important and influential artists of our era, a man of powerful emotion and intelligence whose work has explored the definitive issues of human life—sex, religion, power, meaning, love. Cohen is also a man of complexities and seeming contradictions: a devout Jew, who is also a sophisticate and ladies’ man, as well as an ordained Buddhist monk whose name, Jikan—“ordinary silence”—is quite the appellation for a writer and singer whose life has been anything but ordinary.

I’m Your Man is the definitive account of that extraordinary life. Acclaimed music journalist Sylvie Simmons crafts a portrait of Cohen as nuanced as the man himself, drawing on a wealth of research that includes Cohen’s personal archives and more than a hundred exclusive interviews with those closest to Cohen—from his lovers, friends, monks, professors, rabbis and fellow musicians to his muses, including Rebecca De Mornay, Marianne Ihlen, Suzanne Elrod and Suzanne Verdal—and most important, with Cohen himself, whose presence infuses these pages.

Starting in Montreal, Cohen’s birthplace, where he first found fame as a poet in the fifties, Simmons follows his trail, via London and the Greek island of Hydra, to New York in the sixties, where he launched his music career. From there she traces the arc of his prodigious achievements to his remarkable retreat in the mid-nineties—when on the cusp of marriage to a beautiful actress and enjoying the success of his best-selling album to date, he entered a monastery on a rocky mountaintop above Los Angeles—and finally to his reemergence for a sold-out world tour almost fifteen years later. Whether navigating Cohen’s journeys through the back streets of Mumbai or the countless hotel rooms where he has stayed along the way, Simmons explores with equal focus every complex, contradictory strand of Cohen’s life—from the halls of academia to the arenas of rock ’n’ roll—and presents a deeply insightful portrait of both the artist and the man whose vision, spirit, depth and talent continue to move people like no one else.
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Re: Sylvie Simmons - LC's biographer

Post by lizzytysh »

Thanks, Tom. Will pre-order this very soon.
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Re: Sylvie Simmons - LC's biographer

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Wait until September, I don't think so!! Will get it from the US in May ;-)
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Re: Sylvie Simmons - LC's biographer

Post by tomsakic »

Sylvie informs that the date on Amazon is wrong - the book is delayed for 6 months, until Fall 2012.
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Re: Sylvie Simmons - LC's biographer

Post by Henning »

which makes sense, an ultimate biography should include a chapter about his last tour :-)
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Re: Sylvie Simmons - LC's biographer

Post by holydove »

Henning wrote:which makes sense, an ultimate biography should include a chapter about his last tour :-)

I'm sure that when you say "last tour", you must mean the most recent one (spring/summer 2012) at the time that the biography will have been completed. . .
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Re: Sylvie Simmons - LC's biographer

Post by BEATRIZ SALLES »

holydove wrote:
Henning wrote:which makes sense, an ultimate biography should include a chapter about his last tour :-)

I'm sure that when you say "last tour", you must mean the most recent one (spring/summer 2012) at the time that the biography will have been completed. . .

Of course! ;-)
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Re: Sylvie Simmons - LC's biographer

Post by lizzytysh »

Ey yi yi!!! The cost of the book has gone up $10 [on pre-order!] just since I put it in my Cart... and that was not so long ago! I forgot that they don't deduct until they actually send it. So, now, instead of paying $17.99, I'll be paying $27.99!!! Well, at least I have some months to come up with the extra $10, but it's the principle of it ;-) . So, does this mean the pre-orders are going well?
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Re: Sylvie Simmons - LC's biographer

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lizzytysh wrote:Ey yi yi!!! The cost of the book has gone up $10 [on pre-order!] just since I put it in my Cart... and that was not so long ago! I forgot that they don't deduct until they actually send it. So, now, instead of paying $17.99, I'll be paying $27.99!!! Well, at least I have some months to come up with the extra $10, but it's the principle of it ;-) . So, does this mean the pre-orders are going well?
If you had placed the order the price wouldn't have gone up or at least that is the case with Amazon this side of the Atlantic!! If the price goes down you pay the lower rate but price never goes up once the order is submitted!
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Re: Sylvie Simmons - LC's biographer

Post by lizzytysh »

I KNOW, but I wasn't READY to order at the time. The reason I wasn't was that I erroneously was thinking that it would be deducted right then, and shipped later! Had I KNOWN... and had I even thought that it would go up by another $10 so fast, I would have "ordered" then! I didn't realize that Amazon prices can escalate that fast... I think of ebay when it comes to fluid pricing. The book's not even out yet!
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Re: Sylvie Simmons - LC's biographer

Post by Mabeanie1 »

Get your order in Lizzy - the price on amazon.com has gone back down to $18.47 as of this evening!

Wendy

PS I see the price has gone back up to £20 on amazon.co.uk. Fortunately my order is in at £13.72. I was hoping it would go down more but .....
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Re: Sylvie Simmons - LC's biographer

Post by lizzytysh »

What!?! I already ordered at the high price. So, now I'll order at the low one and then cancel the first!
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Re: Sylvie Simmons - LC's biographer

Post by musicmania »

lizzytysh wrote:What!?! I already ordered at the high price. So, now I'll order at the low one and then cancel the first!
Does Amazon in America not have a price guarantee where if the price drops you pay the lower price????
2009 Dublin 2010 Lissadell Katowice LV x2 2012 Ghent x2 Dublin x4 Montreal x2 Toronto x2 2013 New York x2 Brussels Dublin x2

Gwen's Leonard Cohen Journey: http://myleonardcohenjourney.wordpress.com/

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Re: Sylvie Simmons - LC's biographer

Post by lizzytysh »

So, what's the deal I wonder.
I just ordered at the lower price.
IT says the ship date is May 8, 2012.
The first one I ordered, at the higher price, says the ship date is Monday May 14, 2012 - Monday May 21, 2012.

Is she planning to do two editions!?!

If they do, musicmania, I'm not aware of it. I don't order from Amazon, or online period, very much.
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Re: Sylvie Simmons - LC's biographer

Post by musicmania »

I've just checked it and it does apply here. What it means is if you pre-order and the prices lowers then you pay the lowest price. However to clarify this only includes pre-orders and not simply having it in your shopping cart. If it is only in the shopping cart and the price increases that will be the price you pay.
2009 Dublin 2010 Lissadell Katowice LV x2 2012 Ghent x2 Dublin x4 Montreal x2 Toronto x2 2013 New York x2 Brussels Dublin x2

Gwen's Leonard Cohen Journey: http://myleonardcohenjourney.wordpress.com/

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