Logo image
  • BookDragon
  • About
  • The Blogger
  • Review Policy
  • Smithsonian APAC
 
48862
post-template-default,single,single-post,postid-48862,single-format-standard,stardust-core-1.1,stardust-child-theme-ver-1.0.0,stardust-theme-ver-3.1,ajax_updown_fade,page_not_loaded,smooth_scroll

BookDragon Blog

14 Dec / Leonard Cohen: On a Wire by Philippe Girard, translated by Helge Dascher and Karen Houle [in Shelf Awareness]

Award-winning Canadian cartoonist Philippe Girard (Obituary Man) admirably condenses seven decades into a concise 120 pages in Leonard Cohen: On a Wire. It’s a valuable introduction to the tumultuous life of the iconic singer/songwriter/poet perhaps best remembered for his classic “Hallelujah,” eventually covered by some 200 musicians.

Girard begins at the end, on November 7, 2016, when Cohen fell out of bed in his Los Angeles home: “Nobody heard me,” he utters. “I am going to die here, all alone, like a dog.” Rewind to Montreal, Cohen’s birthplace, where he’s a teen in 1947, desperately looking for his missing pooch, whose frozen corpse he finds under the neighbor’s porch. “This is a rotten way to say goodbye,” Cohen mourns. Farewells become a repetitive theme throughout his many decades, during which his achievements are often marred by drugs, alcohol, and dysfunctional relationships – romantic, familial, professional.

Girard captures Cohen’s impending death in evening shades of blues and greys; as Cohen lays dying, Girard interrupts his final hours with significant life events in a fuller color palette dominated by yellows and browns. Cohen writes, learns guitar, buys the famous blue coat in London, falls in love with muse Marianne in Greece, makes music, gets famous, makes deals, breaks hearts (his own included), fathers two children, loses everything, starts again. For the many famous people sharing Cohen’s path, Girard appends a “Rogues’ Gallery”-who’s who.

For generations unaware of Cohen’s remarkable legacy, Girard’s insightful biography underscores his unyielding tenacity, even in the worst clutches of depression and addiction. Inspiring and informative, Girard – translated by Helge Dascher and Karen Houle – provides indelible testimony to a legendary creative life.

Discover: Canadian cartoonist Philippe Girard presents an insightful, concise graphic biography of fellow Canadian, world-renowned musical icon Leonard Cohen.

Review: “Graphic Books,” Shelf Awareness, December 10, 2021

Readers: Adult

Published: 2021

By Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Biography, Canadian, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Jewish, Nonfiction, Repost, Translation Tags > Art/Architecture, Betrayal, BookDragon, Drugs/Alcohol/Addiction, Family, Friendship, Helge Dascher, Historical, Identity, Karen Houle, Leonard Cohen: On a Wire, Love, Music, Parent/child relationship, Philippe Girard, Shelf Awareness
No Comment

Post a Comment
Cancel Reply

Smithsonian Institution
Asian Pacific American Center

Capital Gallery, Suite 7065
600 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20024

202.633.2691 | APAC@si.edu

Additional contact info

Mailing Address
Capital Gallery
Suite 7065, MRC: 516
P.O. Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012

Fax: 202.633.2699

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

SmithsonianAPA brings Asian Pacific American history, art, and culture to you through innovative museum experiences and digital initiatives.

About BookDragon

Welcome to BookDragon, filled with titles for the diverse reader. BookDragon is a new media initiative of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC), and serves as a forum for those interested in learning more about the Asian Pacific American experience through literature. BookDragon is inhabited by Terry Hong.

Learn More

Contact BookDragon

Please email us at SIBookDragon@gmail.com

Follow BookDragon!
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Looking for Something Else …?

or