The Energy of Slaves

To mark the publication of Leonard Cohen's final book, The Flame , McClelland Stewart is proud to reissue six beautiful editions of Cohen's cherished early works of poetry, many of which are back in print for the first time in decades.

A freshly packaged new series for devoted Leonard Cohen fans and those who wish to discover one of the world's most adored and celebrated writers.

Originally published by McClelland Stewart in 1972, The Energy of Slaves is Cohen's fifth collection, and one of his most controversial. A dark and intense book, described by one critic as "deliberately ugly, offensive, bitter, anti-romantic," Cohen considered it a document of his struggle--"I've just written a book called The Energy of Slaves ," he told an interviewer at the time, "and in there I say that I'm in pain." Bracing, challenging, and equally beautiful and off-putting, it remains one of his most compelling and complex works.