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Leonard Cohen: A Novel
A man who shares his name with a famous singer must grapple with his identity, purpose, and love.
Leonard Cohen is a would-be artist, a would-be lover, and a would-be tragic figure. No, not that Leonard Cohen! The Leonard Cohen at the center of Leonard A Novel is a regular guy. A man haunted by the greatness of his namesake, he struggles to compete and not to be defeated, but most of all, he struggles to accept his fate, to be more than a punchline in his own mind. At the center of Leonard's life is Daphne, whom he meets on a Greek island. In their meeting, a contemporary fable of Daphne and Apollo plays out, the birth of love out of lust. But even with Daphne, Leonard is shadowed by the “other” Leonard Cohen, whom he fears is the real Apollo while Leonard is but a pale wannabe. The ancient myth haunts the fated lovers, and the “nobody” Leonard Cohen’s life becomes at once a mystery, a miracle, and a myth on its own terms. Once upon a time, Apollo fell hard for Daphne, who turned herself into a laurel tree. No less a fate awaits the protagonists of this slender yet universal novel, where art, love, and fame all fatefully intertwine.
Leonard Cohen is a would-be artist, a would-be lover, and a would-be tragic figure. No, not that Leonard Cohen! The Leonard Cohen at the center of Leonard A Novel is a regular guy. A man haunted by the greatness of his namesake, he struggles to compete and not to be defeated, but most of all, he struggles to accept his fate, to be more than a punchline in his own mind. At the center of Leonard's life is Daphne, whom he meets on a Greek island. In their meeting, a contemporary fable of Daphne and Apollo plays out, the birth of love out of lust. But even with Daphne, Leonard is shadowed by the “other” Leonard Cohen, whom he fears is the real Apollo while Leonard is but a pale wannabe. The ancient myth haunts the fated lovers, and the “nobody” Leonard Cohen’s life becomes at once a mystery, a miracle, and a myth on its own terms. Once upon a time, Apollo fell hard for Daphne, who turned herself into a laurel tree. No less a fate awaits the protagonists of this slender yet universal novel, where art, love, and fame all fatefully intertwine.
- GenresContemporary
156 pages, Hardcover
Published May 21, 2024
2 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Jeffrey Lewis
49 books8 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 13, 2025
im not really sure what the message of this book was supposed to be. it doesnt really read like the narrator really feels any particular way about anything that happens for most of the book. theres also ~50 pages in this <200 page book dedicated to explaining how this guys life is really banal. i liked the ending to some extent
September 11, 2025
At our last bookstore crawl, I picked up a grab bag of unknown books. This was in there. Its an uncorrected copy.
The story was strange in the way that it was told. I like the story in the end, but the writing was difficult to follow.
The story was strange in the way that it was told. I like the story in the end, but the writing was difficult to follow.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews