Overview

**AVanity FairBest Book of 2022** **Mosaic Magazine Best Book of 2022** The untold story of Leonard Cohen's concert tour to the front lines of the Yom Kippur War, including never-before-seen selections from an unfinished manuscript by Cohen and rare photographs. In October 1973, the poet and singer Leonard Cohen thirty-nine years old, famous, unhappy, and at a creative dead end travelled 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 group of local musicians, Cohen sang for 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, reigniting his creativity and inspiring him to compose some of his most memorable songs. Who by Fire provides a riveting account of those weeks in the Sinai, drawing on Cohen's previously unpublished writing and original reporting to create a kaleidoscopic depiction of a harrowing, existential moment for both a young country at war and a singer at a crossroads. 'An expedition into the troubled soul of one of the world's greatest songwriters.' Haaretz '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.' Suzanne Vega

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9781954118072

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Reviews

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 A must for any Leonard Cohen completist, with excerpts from his unpublished manuscripts from that time.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 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 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)

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 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 Previous praise for Matti Friedman Praise for SPIES OF NO COUNTRY An important book. --NPR If experience is any guide, spies are not wont to emote. On the rare occasions they do speak about their perilous missions, they avoid sentiment, as if recounting a visit to the dry cleaners. For this reason, histories often fall short in tapping the depths of their lives -- or, more aptly, their humanity. Matti Friedman's Spies of No Country stands out as a wondrous exception. -- The New York Times [An] absolutely arresting account of espionage at the genesis of the Israeli state. --Booklist (starred review) This thrilling story about the forerunner of the Mossad reads like a John le Carre novel. --Le Figaro, France Praise for PUMPKIN FLOWERS Friedman's sober and striking new memoir . . . [is] on a par with Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried -- its Israeli analog. --Gal Beckerman, The New York Times Book Review A book about young men transformed by war, written by a veteran whose dazzling literary gifts gripped my attention from the first page to the last. --Bret Stephens, The Wall Street Journal A compelling narrative, freighted with explosive geopolitical implications. -- Bryce Christensen, Booklist (starred review) The narrative is reminiscent of novels by Denis Johnson and Robert Stone ... A haunting yet wry tale of young people at war, cursed by political forces beyond their control, that can stand alongside the best narrative nonfiction coming out of Afghanistan and Iraq. -- Kirkus (starred review) Friedman's experiences provide a critical historical perspective on the changing climate of war in the Middle East ... His lyrical writing, attention to detail, and personal honesty draw the reader into empathy along with understanding. Friedman's memoir deserves wide readership. --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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 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 Journalist Friedman (Spies of No Country) 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. Sometimes an artist and an event interact to generate a spark far bigger than both, Friedman writes. As he shows here, that alchemy happened in the midst of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when Cohen left his home to give spontaneous concerts to Israeli troops at the front lines in the Sinai desert. Drawing on excerpts from an unpublished manuscript Cohen wrote about his experiences as well as interviews with those who were there, Friedman brilliantly constructs a vivid account humanizing the young soldiers (When Cohen plays Suzanne, Friedman writes, The men are quiet. They hear about a place that doesn't have blackened tanks and figures lying still in charred coveralls ) and the singer, who, after contemplating retirement at age 39, was revitalized by the trip and went on to write his best-known works, including Hallelujah. Friedman also underscores how Cohen's visit transformed the nation's music and spiritual life, leading the country to abandon the militant secularism of the founders for an openness to the old wisdom. This demonstration of the power of song will stun fans of the legendary artist. (Publishers Weekly, Starred Review)

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 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 Reviews 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

Author Information

Matti Friedman is an award-winning journalist and author. Born in Toronto and based in Jerusalem, he writes frequently for TheAtlantic, The Free Press, and Smithsonian, and has been an op-ed columnist for the New York Times and an AP correspondent. Friedman's last book,Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel, won the 2019 Natan Prize.Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier's Story of a Forgotten Warwas chosen in 2016 as aNew York TimesNotable Book and one of Amazon's 10 best books of the year. His first book,The Aleppo Codex, won the 2014 Sami Rohr Prize and the ALA's Sophie Brody Medal.

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