Stalking Leonard Cohen

Categories: Staff Picks , Nonfiction

Hydra and the Bananas of Leonard Cohen, by Roger Green.  Definitely some gems in here, because Green lived in a house that overlooked the singer Leonard Cohen's garden.  Also, Green speaks Greek and was able to do translations between Cohen's longtime housekeepers and the very beautiful artist Suzanne Elrod. 

The Suzanne from the song, by the way, is a different person from Suzanne Elrod, the mother of Leonard's children, Adam and Lorca, and she still lives part-time on Hydra.   

Roger Green befriends Cohen's tenants and gets to sit in Cohen's house a lot. Unfortunately for readers who are primarily Leonard Cohen stalkers or fans, Green is as interested in bananas, and the depiction of bananas in poetry, as he is in Leonard Cohen. Leonard's bananas aren't doing that well.  Roger Green is an educated person with an extraordinary opportunity (access to Leonard’s house) rather than a huge writing talent.  But if you care about Leonard Cohen you should probably read this book.