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24 visions of Leonard Cohen, no clear picture of who he was

JL;DR SUMMARY Leonard Cohen, the enigmatic Canadian singer-songwriter, is the focus of a new book, "The World of Leonard Cohen," edited by David R. Shumway. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish IdentityPoetryCultural AnalysisMusicBiographySpiritualityContradictionLeonard CohenBuddhismDavid R. Shumway

Places mentioned

Montreal, Quebec, Canada
"from enfant terrible of the Montreal literary scene to depressive psalmist, wizened ladies man and after a years-long exile on Mount Baldy a humble, appreciative elder statesman whose popularity peaked sometime after his AARP eligibility."
Mount Baldy, California, United States
"from enfant terrible of the Montreal literary scene to depressive psalmist, wizened ladies man and after a years-long exile on Mount Baldy a humble, appreciative elder statesman whose popularity peaked sometime after his AARP eligibility."
New York, United States
"Many chapters tell the origin story for Cohen's New York debut with Judy Collins, placing it at Town Hall."
Canada
"Somehow, even after being pistol-whipped by Phil Spector while recording Death of a Ladies Man, he was undoubtedly a proud NRA member."

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Cairo Item ID 73872
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2026-01-30 05:30:46 UTC
Curated 2026-01-30 08:30:50 UTC