“A fascinating and intense account of Leonard Cohen’s time in Israel during the 19-day Yom Kippur War of 1973. A must for any Leonard Cohen completist, with excerpts from his unpublished manuscripts from that time. Soulful and thoughtfully done.”—Suzanne Vega

“Who By Fire is a stunning resurrection of a moment in the life of Leonard Cohen and the history of Israel. It’s the story of a young artist in crisis and a young country at war, and the powerful resonance of the chord struck between them. A beautiful, haunting book.”—Nicole Krauss, author of The History of Love

“A short, symphonic book of remarkable stories of yearning, love, and war, whose leitmotif is a haunted artist bearing secret chords that enchant the world.”—Rabbi David Wolpe

“Matti Friedman excels at finding the great significance in forgotten things: forgotten manuscripts, forgotten wars, forgotten spies. In this account of Leonard Cohen’s forgotten concert tour during the Yom Kippur War, not only is a hidden side of Cohen revealed but so too a hidden side of Israel. Who By Fire is a book about the change that happens when you come through the flames.”—David Bezmozgis

“Although he could not have anticipated it when he was researching and writing, the symbolic timing and importance of Matti Friedman’s latest book, Who by Fire, is particularly poignant. … [A] beautifully intimate portrait.”—Quillette

“A revealing and absorbing account of those few short weeks when the fate of Israel was at the precipice, but its revelations will stay with the reader for much longer than it takes to read the slim volume. … Friedman’s compelling narrative of a pivotal war that left an indelible mark on a nation, the Jewish people and one musician draws readers in and doesn’t let go of us until the last page has been finished.”—Jewish Journal

“Friedman illuminates in this fascinating tale an extraordinary chapter in the career of singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) that left a lasting impact on the state of Israel. … This demonstration of the power of song will stun fans of the legendary artist.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) 

“Compelling …. Cohen fans will savor this little-known footnote in the singer’s life.”—Kirkus

“With remarkable insight, discipline, heart, scope, stunning reporting, and sometimes quite beautiful writing, Friedman has recreated those days of war and music, regeneration and humility, that freed Cohen to create some of his greatest works of art.”—Mother Jones

“Compelling… . [Friedman] beautifully ties together ideas about the author’s craft, identity, and connection to Israel…. A brief, audacious, thorough book turning … a dream world unconventionally and surprisingly real.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“A word-of-mouth treasure…. Offers vital insight into Cohen’s trajectory as a songwriter and the scope of his work.”—City Journal

“An important hybrid work of music and war reporting.”—Mitchell Kaplan, Boca Magazine

“Matti Friedman’s impeccably researched and exquisitely written account of Cohen’s unlikely foray into the front lines of a nightmarish war answers the never quite explicated question—just what in the hell did the reluctant scion of a prominent Montreal rabbinical family think he was doing on an Israeli warfront?... Who by Fire offers Cohen aficionados a welcome opportunity to get lost in their own longings.”—Hadassah Magazine

“Fascinating.”—Times Literary Supplement

“Who By Fire passed the most stringent test for readability of any book I can recall in the last two decades. ... Beautiful, haunting, and profoundly memorable.”—Mosaic Magazine

“What was it that happened in the desert in October of 1973 between this depressed musician and these too young soldiers going off to battle? How did it remake Leonard Cohen? How did it transform those who heard him play? And how did the war transform Israel itself? Those are just some of the questions Matti Friedman explains in his beautiful new book.”—Bari Weiss, Honestly Podcast

“Artfully crafted... Friedman’s chapters are like little drawings in black and white, each one an exquisitely designed artistic unit in itself. He has sensitively portrayed a libidinous man, conflicted, but a poet, a priest, and perhaps even a prophet.”—Jerusalem Report & Post

ABOUT THE BOOK

In October 1973, the poet and singer Leonard Cohen—thirty-nine years old, famous, unhappy, and at a creative dead end—traveled from his home on the Greek island of Hydra to the chaos and bloodshed of the Sinai desert when Egypt attacked Israel on the Jewish high holiday of Yom Kippur. Moving around the front with a guitar and a group of local musicians, Cohen met hundreds of young soldiers, men and women at the worst moment of their lives. Those who survived never forgot the experience. And the war transformed Cohen. He had announced that he was abandoning his music career, but he instead returned to Hydra and to his family, had a second child, and released one of the best albums of his career. In Who by Fire, journalist Matti Friedman gives us a riveting account of those weeks in the Sinai, drawing on Cohen’s previously unpublished writing and original reporting to create a kaleidoscopic depiction of a harrowing, formative moment for both a young country at war and a singer at a crossroads.

PRODUCT DETAILS

ISBN: 978-1954118072
Price: $28
On-sale date: 4/5/2022
Weight: 14.4 ounces