The World of Leonard Cohen

David R. Shumway is Professor of English, and Literary and Cultural Studies. He is the author of American Narrative Realism: The Novel, Film, Television, and Theater, to be published by Cambridge University Press in 2026. He wrote Rock Star: The Making of Musical Icons from Elvis to Springsteen and contributed to The World of Bob Dylan, The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan, and The Cambridge Companion to the Singer-Songwriter.

'Leonard Cohen holds a singular place within the story of American popular music as a fully successful polymath who lounged seductively and neurotically at the center of the singer-songwriter movement while maintaining his stance as an outsider: a poet first, a Canadian, a Jewish seeker who was at once more natural and more steadfast in that role than most. The World of Leonard Cohen reveals the many facets of this elusive character, reminding readers than he is much more than the purveyor of the contemporary hymn 'Hallelujah.' With its broad scope and many divergent voices, this anthology rightly celebrates one of music's most fascinating public intellectuals.' Ann Powers, author of Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell

• Introduction: You Don't Know Leonard Cohen David R. Shumway; Part I. Creative Life: 1. The Life of a Troubadour Ira Nadel; 2. The Poetry and Prose: 'Almost Like the Blues' Julian Stannard; 3. Songwriting: Hymn of the Heretic Alan Light; 4. Assembling Albums in the Tower of Song Anthony DeCurtis; Part II. Musical Contexts: 5. Folk Music Gillian A. M. Mitchell; 6. Singer-Songwriters David R. Shumway; 7. Unrocking Rock and Roll: Hiding Songs, War Horses, and Cabaret Blues Eric Weisbard; Part III. Religious Contexts: 8. Judaism: At the Peripheral Center Elliott R Wolfson; 9. Zen and the East Christophe Lebold; 10. Christianity: The Little Jew Who Wrote the Bible and Much About Jesus Marcia Pally; Part IV. Cultural Contexts: 11. Canadian Literature Ian Rae; 12. World Literature Francis Mus; 13. Cohen's Cinematic Appeal Jim Shedden and Laura Cameron; 14. Neurotic Affiliations: Montreal and Belonging Erin MacLeod; 15. Boudoir Poet: A Thousand Kisses Deep with Leonard Cohen David Yaffe; 16. For the Matriarchy: Women and the Music Heather S. Arnet; 17. The Counterculture Sarah Hill; 18. Politics: Insincerely L. Cohen David Boucher; Part V. Reception and Legacy: 19. 'You Know Who I Am': from Writer to Rockstar Loren Glass; 20. Documentary (Re)presentations: 'You Know Who I Am' Robert de Young; 21. 'I'll Wear a Mask for You' Lucy J. Boucher; 22. How to be an Aged Rock Star David R..Shumway; 23. Covers: Six Hundred and Forty-Nine Broken 'Hallelujah's Ray Padgett; 24. The Leonard Cohen Archives Robert de Young; Further Reading: A Bibliography.