A Broken Hallelujah: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen
*Starred Review* Leibovitz presents a thoughtful examination of the music of Leonard Cohen, the elegant Canadian wordsmith and musician, through a strong Jewish perspective. Tellingly, Leibovitz calls Cohen a prophet. He examines the musician’s life and work through the angles of Jewish eschatology, Zen Buddhism, Canadian poetry, and American rock and roll, as well as “lust and lucre.” Yes, there are biographical details here, but A Broken Hallelujah offers something else: a finely etched musical portrait of a complicated man—both highly spiritual and sensual—and the often exquisite music that he has created over many decades, austere and melancholy songs that dare to find beauty amid ugliness. Leibovitz himself has a distinctive voice and approach to Cohen’s work as he looks at the influence two Jewish scholars had on Cohen, the Canadian poets Irving Layton and A. M. Klein. He explores the evolution of Cohen’s public persona as the Poet, and states that the one theme that has consistently preoccupied Cohen is redemption, which he describes as “a discretely Jewish affair,” “a wholly Canadian affliction,” and unquestionably  universal. “It was more than enough for a lifetime of work,” he concludes. A sparkling and psychologically insightful perspective on a unique artist. --June Sawyers