Ballet of Lepers, A: A Novel and Stories by Leonard Cohen; 2022. Hardcover.

Before Leonard Cohen's worldwide fame expanded to fourteen studio albums, Grammy awards, and late-career global tours, he yearned for literary stardom. The Canadian songwriter first ventured into writing in his early twenties, and in A Ballet of Lepers: A Novel and Stories, readers will discover that the magic that animated Cohen's music was present from the very beginning of his career.

The pieces in this collection, written between 1956 and 1961 and including short fiction, a radio play, and an early novel, offer insights into Cohen's imagination and creative process. Cohen explores themes that would permeate his later work, from shame and unworthiness to sexual desire in all its sacred and profane dimensions to longing, whether for love, family, freedom, or transcendence.

The titular novel, A Ballet of Lepers--one he later remarked was "probably a better novel" than his book The Favourite Game--is a haunting examination of these elements in tandem, focusing on toxic relationships and the lengths to which one will go to maintain them, while the fifteen stories, as well as the playscript, probe the inner demons of his characters, many of whom could function as stand-ins for the author himself.