“A treasure trove for Leonard Cohen fans—the dazzling, wide-ranging collection of interviews that Jeff Burger has unearthed not only offers the songwriter’s story in his own words but reveals that Cohen’s language in conversation can be every bit as magnificent as his lyrics.” —Alan Light, author of The Holy or the Broken

This book collects more than fifty interviews with Leonard Cohen, one of the most admired performers of the last half century, conducted worldwide between 1966 and 2012, and also includes a foreword by singer Suzanne Vega and eight pages of rarely seen photos. In it, the artist talks about “Bird on the Wire,” “Hallelujah,” “Famous Blue Raincoat,” and his other classic songs. He candidly discusses his famous romances, his years in a Zen monastery, his ill-fated collaboration with producer Phil Spector, and his long battle with depression. He also comments on his sometimes controversial poetry and novels, the financial crisis that nearly wiped out his savings, and his remarkable late-career resurgence.

Here you’ll find interviews that first appeared in the New York Times and Rolling Stone, but also conversations that have not previously been printed in English, as well as many illuminating reminiscences that contributors supplied specifically for this definitive anthology.

Jeff Burger is the editor of Springsteen on Springsteen. He has contributed to Barron’s, Family Circle, GQ, the Los Angeles Times, Reader’s Digest, and more than seventy-five other magazines, newspapers, and books. He lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey.