By Alexandra Pleshoyano, editor
When Leonard Cohen was interviewed on publication of The Favourite Game in 1963, he was careful to explain that the novel was not his first, implying the existence of an earlier novel, worthy of note even though unpublished. This novel, along with a collection of short stories and plays, can be found in the Leonard Cohen archive at the University of Toronto, and it is presented in this volume for the first time.
These early works are notable for several reasons. In them, we see the emergence of Leonard as a storyteller with protagonists who seem almost to be the author’s alter ego, a technique that recurs in his later work. We find characters encounter- ing and revealing inner demons in a harsh and almost brutal light, and the use of irony and humor. And throughout, the reader encounters early explorations of themes that will occupy Leonard for his entire artistic life: the sacred and profane dimensions of sexual desire; the longing for an ideal woman, capable of a liberating love; a search for freedom in a world of limitations and boundaries; the challenge—and even incapacity—to embrace commitment; feelings of alienation; the dread flowing from a sense of unworthiness coupled with an aspiration for the transcendent and the beautiful.
The manuscript is divided into three parts: Leonard’s first, unpublished novel entitled A Ballet of Lepers; fifteen short stories; and a playscript entitled Trade.
The novel A Ballet of Lepers was written at Leonard’s childhood home located on Belmont Avenue in Montreal. Some of Leonard’s letters in the archive attest that it was written between 1956 and 1957. There are four drafts of this unpublished novel. Contrary to what we might expect, the second draft is the most complete version, and is the one retained here, however part of the last page of this draft has been ripped apart and is missing, so I transcribed the last page of the third draft to replace it.
In the second part of the book, the fifteen short stories are assembled according to the location where each had been written. The second part of the book starts with “Saint Jig,” “O.K. Herb, O.K. Flo,” and “Signals,” which were all written at Leonard’s childhood home. The fourth story, “Polly,” was written between September 1956 and the spring of 1957 when Leonard, twenty-two years old at the time, was enrolled for some postgraduate studies at Columbia University in New York. He was living at the International House located on Riverside Drive. The fifth and sixth short stories, “A Hundred Suits from Russia” and “Ceremonies,” were both written between 1957 and 1958 when Leonard was living on Mountain Street in downtown Montreal.
The seventh short story, “Mister Euemer Episodes,” was written during that same period, with the archive version of it bearing a different title, “Marriage of the Virgin.” The eighth short story, “The Shaving Ritual,” was written in Montreal in 1958, but no specific address is mentioned. Due to the same characters—Mr. and Mrs. Euemer—being present in the seventh, eighth, and ninth short stories, I chose to place the three consecutively. An alternate draft of this story in the archive uses the title “Barbers and Lovers.” Leonard mentioned that the ninth short story, “Lullaby,” was written on Mountain Street and thus we can presume that stories sharing those characters could have been written at the same location between 1957 and 1958. The tenth and eleventh stories, “A Week is a Very Long Time” and “The Jukebox Heart” were also written on Mountain Street.
The twelfth short story, “David Who?” was written on the island of Hydra in Greece in 1960, and was in earlier drafts called “Diary of a Montreal Lecher.” The thirteenth short story, “Short Story on Greek Island,” could also have been written in 1960 in Hydra.
The fourteenth short story stands out because of its Hebrew style; Leonard wrote it without any title, capital letters, punctuation, or accents, just a few spaces in between the end of a sentence and the beginning of the other, suggesting some invisible punctuation to the reader. Following the Jewish tradition—which is how Leonard proceeded to entitle each of his fifty psalms published in Book of Mercy—I am using the first few words of this short story by way of title “ive had lots of pets.” This short story “ive had lots of pets,” as well as the fifteenth and final one, “Strange Boy with a Hammer,” could have been written anytime, and anywhere, between 1956 and 1960.
The third and final part of the manuscript presents a playscript, Trade, written between 1957 and 1958 when Leonard lived on Mountain Street in downtown Montreal. According to an exchange of letters written in 1961, Trade kindled Canadian Broadcasting Corporation producer Robert Weaver’s interest, but it is not clear what happened afterwards.
We know from Leonard’s letters in the archive that he tried consistently to have these works published. While rejection is a part of many young writers’ careers, in Leonard’s case, it is somewhat puzzling given the success of his early books of poems, Let Us Compare Mythologies (1956) and The Spice-Box of Earth (1961), collections that in a sense bookend the works contained in this volume. These previously unpublished works provide a unique window into the early art of Leonard Cohen.
Alexandra Pleshoyano
Ste Catherine de Hatley (Quebec)