The Montreal-born poet, novelist, and folk-rock singer-songwriter is widely regarded as one of an elite few songwriters whose work transcends all the rest; in the wake of Bob Dylanâ??s recent Nobel Prize for Literature, Cohenâ??s name was most frequently mentioned as another perhaps deserving of the prize, along with Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon.
Cohen came to songwriting relatively late. He first made his mark as a poet and novelist in Canada in the early 1960s, with poetry volumes titled â??The Spice-Box of Earth,â? a reference to the ritual spice-box for the end of the Sabbath, the Havdala besamim, and â??Flowers for Hitler,â? which in poetry did for Adolf Eichmann what Hannah Arendtâ??s â??Eichmann in Jerusalemâ? did in prose â?? made the Nazi official out to be a pathetic but ultimately banal cog in the wheel of destruction.
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