Matters of Vital Interest

"Matters of Vital Interest" is a beautifully written memoir by Eric Lerner, about singer-songwriter-poet, Leonard Cohen, and their 40 year friendship. Lerner and Cohen met through their mutual interest in Buddhism. They both practiced with the same spiritual leader, Sasaki Roshi, in Los Angeles. Lerner & Cohen were very close, intimate friends, even purchasing a duplex together and living there throughout most of those 40 years. Their kids grew up together. They went through marriages and divorces, career successes and failures, and more, in a friendship that lasted right to the day of Cohen's death.

While most celebrity memoirs are of the shocking, tell-all variety of who slept with who, what hotels were trashed, who hated who in the band, how many drugs were used, etc., "Matters of Vital Interest" stands out because it is not anything like that at all. You will not find any bits of juicy gossip, or learn any deep dark secrets about Cohen. Lerner is not dishing any dirt. Rather, the focus of this memoir is really on their friendship - a relationship and connection laid bare for all to see. And, as such, the reader is treated to a true, intimate portrait of both men.

Each of us, to varying degrees, has a certain public face that we show to the world. With celebrities, there is an even more finely honed and crafted persona that each one puts out to the world. Because of this, it is very hard to really know who our favorite celebrities are as people - what their interests are, how they think, how they interact in their lives away from the cameras. Leonard Cohen had a carefully crafted persona that allowed fans to project whatever they wanted onto him. "Matters of Vital Interest" lifts the veil, and takes readers into the very personal, very real, life of this man, who always seemed to keep the public at a certain distance.

Readers learn more about the kind of man Leonard Cohen was through reading this memoir than could ever be learned from magazine stories about him, or from any other type of biography that might be written, other than, perhaps, one were written by his children. This is because Lerner lays bare their friendship for all to see. Lerner shares the mundane, every day interactions he and Cohen engaged in: what things they talked about, what interested each of them, how they communicated with each other, supported one another, and how each engaged with the people, events, and the world around them.

Ostensibly, "Matters of Vital Interest" is a book about Leonard Cohen. Certainly, having Cohen's name in the title of your book is likely to encourage more readers to buy it - more so than if Cohen's name were not in it. Most people have not really heard of Eric Lerner, and they might not be interested in reading a memoir about Lerner's own life. Yes, Cohen fans who pick up this book will find lots of great Cohen moments and stories, which make it well worth reading. However, the book says as much about Lerner as it does about Cohen. How could it not? And this makes it a wonderful read simply because it is a great case study into the nature of friendship - and this friendship, in particular.

I have been a fan of Leonard Cohen for a very long time. I enjoyed learning more about him through the eyes of Eric Lerner. This wasn't written so much as a biography, but more of as a story told by a friend. Looking forward to reading more from Eric.
Thank you NetGalley.com and Da Capo Press for this ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of a great friendship between two men. Two artists whose chance meeting and forty year friendship was destiny. Leonard Cohen the icon-- the public figure-- is not here. Eric Lerner gives us Leonard Cohen the father, the friend, artist and most important-- the man.

Two men, each with his own demons and desires both seeking the unknown-- both searching for complete fulfillment and understanding of life. Lerner shares the intimate details of their friendship- lovingly recounting many joyous and difficult days as only two soulmates could experience them. Two men stripped bare and without compromise.

The facts in the history of their careers are the background of this story, not the focus. This book takes you deep into the minds, feelings and experiences of two influential writers/artists of the past century.

I received and ARC copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"...Long ago we jumped onto the spiritual path because we couldn’t stand our moods. We embraced the belief that if we achieved some version of enlightenment we’d attain brand-new selves, retrofitted with a peace of mind that our factory-equipped selves-at-birth so painfully lacked…"

One of the most, if not the most, uplifting and heartbreaking memoirs ever written. Any attempt at description or explanation would fail to capture the essence and love captured between the pages of this wondrous book. A forty-year friendship and search for answers that resulted in a life of bursting with meaning. Sad to know that Leonard Cohen is gone, but Eric Lerner, in his own perfect way, brings him back by adding more beautiful words to spiritual Cohen’s musical gift to all of us.

I received a complimentary ARC copy of Matters of Vital Interest: A Forty-Year Friendship with Leonard Cohen by Eric Lerner from NetGalley and De Capo Press in order to read and give an honest review.

I have been a fan of Leonard Cohen since my teens. Unlike most of the new wave, punk heroes of my youth, Cohen’s work somehow spoke to me on a very different level. He was not glammed up with spiked hair and eyeliner but had a cool elegance that made him and his music stand out for me. Although his work was, and still is, brilliant, poetic and fairly well known, the man himself, always seemed to remain a mystery...until now. Author Eric Lerner, a close personal friend of Cohen for over forty years shares with us an intimate and unique portrait of the man, his spirit and the creative and curious workings of his mind.   

As a fan I really enjoyed this, although bittersweet and intensely emotional at times, it gave us a glimpse inside Cohen's life like nothing else I have watched or read. Lerner and Cohen endured a great deal throughout their friendship from trying to find spiritual meaning and weathering their creative storms, to divorce, parenting and ultimately illness. These two went through it all, offering support, kindness, wit and most importantly honesty.  We saw them search for spiritual meaning, exploring Zen Buddhism while still adhering to their Jewish faith. I giggled at the story of their existential conversation whilst watching a nature documentary about penguins. We learn about what made Cohen tick, how proud he was to be a father and the little idiosyncrasies that make us see him as perhaps a little less mysterious and if anything, the very human, honest and extremely self-aware artist he was. 

I love the fact Lerner gives us a glimpse into Cohen’s life in a respectful but very honest way, highlighting the good but also sharing the troublesome often overwhelming things that Cohen endured in his life. My only issue with the book, although it wouldn't stop me reading it, was the fact it jumps around in spots. Some sections seemed like a meandering internal dialogue going back and forth, revisiting things as they came to Lerner's mind but often seemed a bit repetitive in my opinion.

All in all, I really enjoyed this unique gift to Cohen fans everywhere, an honest, captivating glimpse at the man and his music, a must read in my opinion.