Various Positions: A Life of Leonard Cohen

Nadel's biography is highly readable but a tad vague. For instance the section where he describes "Who By Fire" as derived from the song in the Rosh Hashanah musaf. Well, given as it is a virtual transcription of the prayer, which he could easily have read a translation of, that makes me wonder how many other things he's vague on. On the other hand, it clips along nicely and he seems to have some affection for his subject - always an advantage in a biographer - without being in any way dazzled by him. Sort of a shaking his head quality appears from time to time as he seems bemused by Cohen's "shameless" pursuit of female journalists and any other beauty that catches his eye. Fine if you're interested, in short, but there is bound to be a more substantial book some time if the subject's fame continues to grow, as it now is still doing. There are countless books on Dylan, and while I do not think LC is as central to the culture as Dylan - I think of them as King David and Jeremiah - I do think this book leaves room for a thoughtful critical biography to be done.