New book: Poems and Songs - Everyman's Library Pocket Poets

[bene449]

So, what happens next:

1. Another book released next month called "Poems from the Road", a collection of the best poems from the previous two identical books.

2. Maarten plants another tree to celebrate 3 poetry books released in one month, all identical but different covers. (Maarten, I promise I will send you the dvd as soon as I can )

3. Marie collects signatures for a thank you card to Leonard, to thank him for releasing this book of poetry.

[Sqezekid]

Thanks, Vince! I'll order that "Poems From The Road" - sounds unmissable! Poems from different locations around the world??

[brightnow]

Well, my copy of the new "Everyman's Library" book is here and I like it much more than I anticipated.
I knew I was buying more copies of text I already have in a different format and I did not mind that at all. What I didn't know was just how compact the new format is. This book is now a permanent fixture in my travel bag!

[sturgess66]

http://www.examiner.com/ny-in-new-york/ ... ocket-poet

Leonard Cohen is now an Everyman's Library Pocket Poet


Leonard Cohen Poems and Songs book cover
Photo: amazon.com

April 5th, 2011 12:29 pm ET

David Cooper
NY Jewish Culture Examiner

When Canadian poet and novelist Leonard Cohen decided to become a singer/songwriter four and a half decades ago he moved to New York City to launch his new career. New York is mentioned in his songs "Chelsea Hotel" and "Famous Blue Raincoat." And today a New York publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, is publishing a selection of Cohen's poems and songs in its Everyman's Library Pocket Poets series, a series that includes some of the best loved English language poets. In my New York Journal of Books review of Leonard Cohen Poems and Songs I describe the small handsomely made volume as a likely gift book.
http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/classi ... horid=5283

Cohen is an alumnus of Herzliah High School in Montreal. Jewish themes are found throughout his work in such songs as "Story of Isaac" and "Who by Fire" which is based on the Unetaneh Tokef high holiday prayer. He observes the Sabbath while on tour. Seeing his work on the page finds that Cohen spells the word God with a hyphen following Orthodox Jewish practice. He also spent five years living in a Zen Buddhist monastery, but he sees no contradiction with his Judaism. "Well, for one thing, in the tradition of Zen that I've practiced, there is no prayerful worship and there is no affirmation of a deity. So theologically there is no challenge to any Jewish belief." (Source: 2009 NY Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/arts/ ... %20&st=cse )

Montreal's ubiquitous Catholicism has also influenced Cohen as he describes in his prose poem, "Montreal":

We who belong to this city have never left The Church. The Jews are in The Church as they are in the snow. . . . The Church has used the winter to break us and now that we are broken we are going to pull down your pride. The pride of Canada and the pride of Quebec, the pride of the left and the pride of the right, the pride of muscle and the pride of heart, the insane pride of your particular vision will swell and explode because you have all dared to think of killing people.

Leonard Cohen Poems and Songs includes some of the psalm like prose poems from his 1984 Book of Mercy. In my New York Journal of Books review I quote "All My Life":

All my life is broken unto you, and all my glory soiled unto you. Do not let the spark of my soul go out in the even sadness. Let me raise the brokenness to you, to the world where the breaking is for love. Do not let the words be mine, but change them into truth. With these lips instruct my heart, and let fall into the world what is broken in the world. Lift me up to the wrestling of faith. Do not leave me where the sparks go out, and the jokes are told in the dark, and the new things are called forth and appraised in the scale of the terror. Face me to the rays of love, O source of light, or face me to the majesty of your darkness, but not here, do not leave me here, where death is forgotten, and the new thing grins.

Starting today Leonard Cohen Poems and Songs is available at book stores and on-line book vendors.

[Sqezekid]

Ok, so I now have a copy of "Poems" by Leonard Cohen and a copy of "Poems and Songs" by Leonard Cohen....both published by Everyman and both advertised on Amazon.co.uk as different books - even with different photos on the dust jackets AND different recommended retail prices.
Guess what...they are indeed the same book!! So don't waste your money by buying both...as a matter of interest, what photo does the dust jacket have on the book available in the USA? Over here in the UK, both books have a photo of Leonard wearing a beret - not the one advertised elsewhere on this link, or even advertised on Amazon.co.uk
A friend has also picked up on the fact that in this book, Tower of Song is called THE Tower of Song and there is reference to a modernist Canadian poet called "R.F.Scott" on page 12, when R.F.Scott was the Antarctic explorer and the reference should , in fact, be to F.R.Scott.
Minor points, maybe, but when taken with the ploy of advertising one book as two separate ones, extremely annoying!

[musicmania]

Ok, so I now have a copy of "Poems" by Leonard Cohen and a copy of "Poems and Songs" by Leonard Cohen....both published by Everyman and both advertised on Amazon.co.uk as different books - even with different photos on the dust jackets AND different recommended retail prices.
Guess what...they are indeed the same book!! So don't waste your money by buying both...as a matter of interest, what photo does the dust jacket have on the book available in the USA? Over here in the UK, both books have a photo of Leonard wearing a beret - not the one advertised elsewhere on this link, or even advertised on Amazon.co.uk
A friend has also picked up on the fact that in this book, Tower of Song is called THE Tower of Song and there is reference to a modernist Canadian poet called "R.F.Scott" on page 12, when R.F.Scott was the Antarctic explorer and the reference should , in fact, be to F.R.Scott.
Minor points, maybe, but when taken with the ploy of advertising one book as two separate ones, extremely annoying!

So the covers are identical now too which means the only difference is price! Talk about trying to rip the fans off!!! I had waited to order until I knew what the story with the different covers was. This would nearly put me off ordering altogether!

[david birkett]

My modest literary blog contribution:

http://thecapuchinclassicsblog.blogspot ... chase.html

[dick]

Like David and brightnow, I liked this handsome and compact volume. I liked it so much I bought two of them at Barnes and Nobel today.

I enjoy supporting a brick and mortar bookstore while I still can, and the US Amazon listing made it apear I had to order from a third party, not Amazon. I like the Isserman cover photo with beret, like that is is edited by Robert Faggen, of Robert Frost reknown, and like that it is the first publication for five new poems/lyrics.

Neither the dustjacket nor the hard front cover have more title than "Leonard Cohen." The title pages in my books say "Poems and Songs." A brief forward by Faggen is compelling.

Perhaps illustrating LC's worldwide appeal, the book has been typset in England, and was printed and bound in Germany. A ribbon bookmark is sewn in --another touch of class.

I can't imagine a forum member who wouldn't enjoy adding this to his/her collection.

[lizzytysh]

How much was it a copy at Barnes & Noble, Dick?
I'd much prefer buying from them, as well. Plus, you have it in your hand the minute you do.
It sounds really beautiful and fitting for Leonard.

[dick]

Hardcover book was undiscounted at $13.50. Seemed very reasonable to me.

[lizzytysh]

That IS reasonable and a deal given your description. If you pay postage, plus the book, you'd pay at least that. Thanks.

[astranger]

I looked through this book today at B&N, it looks great although I wish the book was sectioned off like Stranger Music, I feel it gives it a certain order. I was also looking forward to a new printed discography including Songs from the Road, but that's just because i'm a nerd. I'll pick this up eventually.

[lightasabreeze]

My copy of Everymans book of Leonard's poems came today from Amazon. It was £6.17p which I thought very good value.
I have not gone completely through it yet and every poem I have read I already have in Stranger Music etc, but it is a lovely little book to hold and very compact. Looking on the inside cover it is nice to see Leonard in the company of so many other poets. just right to keep at the bedside.

[tomsakic]

From the beginning it was obvious it will be the same book with two different dust jackets. What happened to the first one (photo in which Leonard squats)? I only see one book on both Amazons (the one where LC wears the beret) and only confusion is that the book is entitled LEONARD COHEN so one link says "Poems" and another "Poems and Songs", although it's only "Leonard Cohen".

[Mabeanie1]

I ordered both books from Amazon very early on when it look as if they might be different collections (before Jarkko added the "second" book to the files in fact). I let my order run even when it became clear that they were the same book with different covers. I didn't even cancel when it seemed likely that they were exactly the same, including the cover photo, as I was curious why Amazon had not corrected their listing and were showing different publication dates for the two books. The second book arrived last week and guess what? It is identical to the first: same cover, same title, same contents. There are however 2 telling differences between the two editions:

1. The ISBN number, and

2. The price.

The first book is priced at £9.99 and is clearly aimed at the UK market. The second book, priced at $13.50, appears to be aimed at the North American market. I have no idea why Amazon UK is selling both but the pricing in USD explains why the second book is so much cheaper on Amazon. Go for this one if you haven't ordered yet!

The second book went back to Amazon on Monday and I have received a full refund. Amazon paid the postage as it was their mistake for listing it as a different book. They even packaged the two books up together at one stage (buy both for £15.27 or whatever it was). I love this little collection but not enough to want two of them!

Wendy