• I'm Your Man is based on a wealth of research, including interviewers with Cohen himself and more than 100 key figures in his life, including some who have spoken out to an author for the first time ever. Among them are the artist's main muses, the women in his life and the mother of his children; close friends from both childhood and adulthood; producers, musicians, and singers who have worked on his albums and tours; major contemporary artists who have been influenced by Leonard Cohen or worked with him—Nick Cave, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Phillip Glass, Judy Collins, The Pixies, Rufus Wainwright, and many more. Cohen also allowed Sylvie Simmons access to his archives and some rare photos from his childhood and youth.

• Simmons wrote the liner notes to Leonard Cohen Live at the Isle of Wight 1970, for which she received the prestigious 2010 ASCAP Deems Taylor Award which honors excellence in print, broadcast, and new media coverage of music.

• The author is an acclaimed music journalist and biographer whose previous subjects have included Neil Young, Serge Gainsbourg, and Johnny Cash. Her work has appeared in Rolling Stone, MOJO, and many other publications, and she was a writer for the legendary rock magazine Creem, had a syndicated newspaper column in the U.S., and hosted a syndicated radio show. She currently writes for the Guardian (U.K.) and has made frequent radio appearances, many on the BBC.

• In 2008, after a fifteen-year hiatus, Cohen embarked on a sold-out three-year world tour comprising 246 concerts in Canada, Europe, Australia, and the United States.
 
 
 

“There is a crack in everything.
That’s how the light gets in.”
— Leonard Cohen

The genius behind such classic songs as Suzanne, Bird on a Wire, and Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen has been one of the most important and influential songwriters of our time, a man of spirituality, emotion, and intelligence whose work has explored the definitive issues of human life—sex, religion, power, meaning, love.

Yet before he even began recording, Cohen was an accomplished literary figure whose poetry and novels brought him considerable recognition. His dual careers in music and literature have transformed one another, his songs revealing a literary quality rare in the world of popular music, and his poetry and prose informed by a rich musicality.

I’m Your Man explores the facets of Cohen’s life—from his early childhood in Montreal, to his entrée into the worlds of literature and music, his immersion in Jewish culture, obsession with Christian imagery, and deep commitment to Buddhist detachment—including the five years he spent at a monastery outside of Los Angeles and his ordainment as a Rinzai Zen Buddhist Monk. 

Sylvie Simmons draws on Cohen's private archives and a wealth of interviews with many of his closest associates, colleagues, and other artists whose work he has inspired, as well as professors, Buddhist monks, and rabbis, to share stories and details never before revealed, and correct mistakes propounded in previous works. Unlike other biographies, I'm Your Man gives equal time to Cohen's poetry and prose and balances his intellectual and religious sides. The result is this deeply insightful, well-rounded portrait, of an artist whose reach, vision, and incredible talent who has had a profound impact on multiple generations and who continues to create magic today.