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The Favourite Game/Beautiful Losers
Leonard Cohen’s two classic novels now available together in this collector’s edition.
This beautifully designed collector’s hardcover edition brings together Leonard Cohen’s acclaimed novels in a single volume. Published originally in 1963 and 1966, these novels have had a recent resurgence of popularity and sales around the world.
In his unforgettable debut novel, The Favourite Game , Cohen boldly etches the youth and early manhood of Lawrence Breavman, only son of an old Jewish family in Montreal. Beautiful Losers is Cohen’s classic novel of the sixties. Funny, harrowing, and deeply moving, it is his most defiant and uninhibited work.
This beautifully designed collector’s hardcover edition brings together Leonard Cohen’s acclaimed novels in a single volume. Published originally in 1963 and 1966, these novels have had a recent resurgence of popularity and sales around the world.
In his unforgettable debut novel, The Favourite Game , Cohen boldly etches the youth and early manhood of Lawrence Breavman, only son of an old Jewish family in Montreal. Beautiful Losers is Cohen’s classic novel of the sixties. Funny, harrowing, and deeply moving, it is his most defiant and uninhibited work.
507 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2009
15 people are currently reading
388 people want to read
About the author
Leonard Cohen
217 books2,134 followersLeonard Norman Cohen was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963.
Cohen's earliest songs (many of which appeared on the 1968 album Songs of Leonard Cohen) were rooted in European folk music melodies and instrumentation, sung in a high baritone. The 1970s were a musically restless period in which his influences broadened to encompass pop, cabaret, and world music. Since the 1980s he has typically sung in lower registers (bass baritone, sometimes bass), with accompaniment from electronic synthesizers and female backing singers.
His work often explores the themes of religion, isolation, sexuality, and complex interpersonal relationships.
Cohen's songs and poetry have influenced many other singer-songwriters, and more than a thousand renditions of his work have been recorded. He has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour. Cohen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2008 for his status among the "highest and most influential echelon of songwriters".
Cohen's earliest songs (many of which appeared on the 1968 album Songs of Leonard Cohen) were rooted in European folk music melodies and instrumentation, sung in a high baritone. The 1970s were a musically restless period in which his influences broadened to encompass pop, cabaret, and world music. Since the 1980s he has typically sung in lower registers (bass baritone, sometimes bass), with accompaniment from electronic synthesizers and female backing singers.
His work often explores the themes of religion, isolation, sexuality, and complex interpersonal relationships.
Cohen's songs and poetry have influenced many other singer-songwriters, and more than a thousand renditions of his work have been recorded. He has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour. Cohen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2008 for his status among the "highest and most influential echelon of songwriters".
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 22, 2015
Is there anything Leonard Cohen can't do?
I wanted to read this book (the favourite game), because it's always exciting to read a novel set in Montreal. I was expecting very good writing and excellent prose--this is the man who wrote Hallelujah after all--but I'm shocked at how much I enjoyed Breavman's story. In the introduction, it says that Breavman has a "self-centered" sort of point of view and I thought this would be a little like Catcher in the rye, à la Montréal...It isn't.
Breavman is Jewish, privileged, growing up in Westmount. He's intelligent, gifted and very horny. He and his best friend Krantz are always on the look out for the perfect encounter with a beautiful girl, and most of the book recounts Breavman's love affairs with a handful of women, from the time he was a boy, to the present. This came out in 1963 and caused a bit of a scandal I suppose, but there is absolutely nothing pornographic in this novel. It's a little erotic at times, but not more than a D.H. Lawrence book.
The beauty of this book is really in the way Cohen expresses himself and what he chooses to reveal. It's about the experience of being talented, but fatherless and without real direction, about being Jewish after the Holocaust in North America, it's about Montreal, the "frogs", the English, class stratification, the Mountain, even the architecture of Montreal itself... It's also about love and sex and being afraid to commit.
There are beautiful passages in this book. Especially those related to Martin, the boy-genius (I think he must have been autistic) to whom Breavman identifies strongly.
Lastly, one of the best treats of this little novel, is the sharp, witty, and off-the-wall dialogue between Breavman and Krantz.
I really enjoyed it.
I wanted to read this book (the favourite game), because it's always exciting to read a novel set in Montreal. I was expecting very good writing and excellent prose--this is the man who wrote Hallelujah after all--but I'm shocked at how much I enjoyed Breavman's story. In the introduction, it says that Breavman has a "self-centered" sort of point of view and I thought this would be a little like Catcher in the rye, à la Montréal...It isn't.
Breavman is Jewish, privileged, growing up in Westmount. He's intelligent, gifted and very horny. He and his best friend Krantz are always on the look out for the perfect encounter with a beautiful girl, and most of the book recounts Breavman's love affairs with a handful of women, from the time he was a boy, to the present. This came out in 1963 and caused a bit of a scandal I suppose, but there is absolutely nothing pornographic in this novel. It's a little erotic at times, but not more than a D.H. Lawrence book.
The beauty of this book is really in the way Cohen expresses himself and what he chooses to reveal. It's about the experience of being talented, but fatherless and without real direction, about being Jewish after the Holocaust in North America, it's about Montreal, the "frogs", the English, class stratification, the Mountain, even the architecture of Montreal itself... It's also about love and sex and being afraid to commit.
There are beautiful passages in this book. Especially those related to Martin, the boy-genius (I think he must have been autistic) to whom Breavman identifies strongly.
Lastly, one of the best treats of this little novel, is the sharp, witty, and off-the-wall dialogue between Breavman and Krantz.
I really enjoyed it.
April 4, 2024
As a big fan of Leonard Cohen, it was just a matter of time before I read one of his novels.
To be honest, I have no clue how to rate these. I think I liked them? I was at times confused, at times disgusted, yet I couldn’t put them down once I really started reading. I never experienced mid-century Montreal but man, sometimes these stories made me feel like I did.
To be honest, I have no clue how to rate these. I think I liked them? I was at times confused, at times disgusted, yet I couldn’t put them down once I really started reading. I never experienced mid-century Montreal but man, sometimes these stories made me feel like I did.
March 26, 2010
The Favourite Game: (2.5/5). Cohen is one of my favourite poets. He has such a moving and gorgeous and fluid writing style that really reading was all I noticed or really cared about for the entire novel. I really didn't care too much about Breavman aside from his friendship with Krantz. Mostly just his multiple conquests of women. Well written but, plot wise, boring.
Beautiful Losers: (3/5) Again with the amazing writing. I'm not sure I understood it all but I was certainly intrigued by the Mohawk saint and this strange threesome between the narrator, F., and Edith. There is quite a bit of sex here, which isn't all that surprising but it just seems to be every third page. Enjoyed this more than his first novel and want to read it again at some point. Also considering buying it on its own.
All in all, I think Cohen is better suited to songs and poetry but I think at least Beautiful Losers is worth reading at least once. :)
Beautiful Losers: (3/5) Again with the amazing writing. I'm not sure I understood it all but I was certainly intrigued by the Mohawk saint and this strange threesome between the narrator, F., and Edith. There is quite a bit of sex here, which isn't all that surprising but it just seems to be every third page. Enjoyed this more than his first novel and want to read it again at some point. Also considering buying it on its own.
All in all, I think Cohen is better suited to songs and poetry but I think at least Beautiful Losers is worth reading at least once. :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 24, 2018
These two books were quite powerful. However, anyone turning to these books for rosy inspiration would be flipping through these pages in vain.
If a good book can be measured in its power to dismantle, then Beautiful Losers is an amazing book.
As I read the last words from the final scene starring the Old Man from the treehouse, I can confidently say I no longer know who I am (probably lost somewhere between Edith and the elevator and the indoor fireworks).
It’s worth noting that before I could write this review, I was compelled to take a shower, comb my hair and brush my teeth. Beautiful Losers clings to me still.
If a good book can be measured in its power to dismantle, then Beautiful Losers is an amazing book.
As I read the last words from the final scene starring the Old Man from the treehouse, I can confidently say I no longer know who I am (probably lost somewhere between Edith and the elevator and the indoor fireworks).
It’s worth noting that before I could write this review, I was compelled to take a shower, comb my hair and brush my teeth. Beautiful Losers clings to me still.
May 21, 2020
Zapravo sam pročitala samo roman The Favourite Game, a Beautiful Losers tek trebam nabaviti.
The Favourite Game je neobična, fenomenalno napisana knjiga, što uopće ne čudi kad znamo tko ju je napisao. Ima, naravno, pjesničkih dijelova, neobičnih figura i svega ostalog, ali je isto tako riječ o jednoj tipičnoj priči o odrastanju jednog mladiča ispričanoj na neobičan Cohenovski način. Nije nikada prevedena, mislim da ju je i najbolje čitati u originalu. Topla preporuka svima koji vole ovog pjesnika i pjevača :)
The Favourite Game je neobična, fenomenalno napisana knjiga, što uopće ne čudi kad znamo tko ju je napisao. Ima, naravno, pjesničkih dijelova, neobičnih figura i svega ostalog, ali je isto tako riječ o jednoj tipičnoj priči o odrastanju jednog mladiča ispričanoj na neobičan Cohenovski način. Nije nikada prevedena, mislim da ju je i najbolje čitati u originalu. Topla preporuka svima koji vole ovog pjesnika i pjevača :)
April 30, 2018
Two fantastic novels by one of my favorite artists. These books celebrate Montreal identity, beatnik identity, Jewish identity, Quebecois history, and the struggle for meaning and transcendence in the 20th century's counter cultural revolution.
Beautiful Losers is particularly vulgar, confusing, and not for everyone - but still a masterpiece. Be warned.
Beautiful Losers is particularly vulgar, confusing, and not for everyone - but still a masterpiece. Be warned.
August 16, 2023
I admit I have dozed off a few times, faute d’un style d’écriture qui ne m’interpellait pas sous ses diverses facettes, but hey! Those were beautiful dreams. Alternatively, some chapters were ripe with symbolism with the obvious help of keen penmanship.
March 4, 2017
the book itself as a physical object is well-made and (I think) appealing on the shelf.
I preferred The Favourite Game to Beautiful Losers, though there is undeniable craft in many parts of Beautiful Losers. The Favourite Game is more traditional of a novel, whereas Beautiful Losers has almost no narrative arc to speak of. As appealing as the experiment in composition in Beautiful Losers can be, it's often so deliberately opaque and off-putting that it sags from interesting befuddlement into tedium. But it does pick up again.
The Favourite Game is a more recognizable story about a brilliant but ultimately lonely boy whose world continually frustrates and disappoints him, but written with Cohen's style and sensibilities. I liked it.
I preferred The Favourite Game to Beautiful Losers, though there is undeniable craft in many parts of Beautiful Losers. The Favourite Game is more traditional of a novel, whereas Beautiful Losers has almost no narrative arc to speak of. As appealing as the experiment in composition in Beautiful Losers can be, it's often so deliberately opaque and off-putting that it sags from interesting befuddlement into tedium. But it does pick up again.
The Favourite Game is a more recognizable story about a brilliant but ultimately lonely boy whose world continually frustrates and disappoints him, but written with Cohen's style and sensibilities. I liked it.
September 22, 2014
Love Leonard Cohen, okay.
But - as in the song writing, he is clearly in love with language - the coinage is
brilliant - but where's the STORY.
This novel was rejected by publishers McClelland & Stewart as tedious and preoccupied
with sex - which it is.
Don't know what to make of it! - enjoyed reading it, but wondered what's it ABOUT.
Like wise, the song CLOSING TIME - love it - love the brilliant word coinage - But
what's it ABOUT.
He's a spellbinder - but what is he trying to say ?
Am I making sense ?
Will be buying his new album POPULAR PROBLEMS and know I will ask the same question
-- what's your message, where's your story, what's this ABOUT.
March 29, 2020
I wanted to like this even just a little bit. and although there were lines that I loved, the imagery and visceral writing I just could not stay connected to either the characters or the story line.
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January 19, 2010read
June 30, 2015
Holy shit.
March 18, 2018
I read and finished both books in the original language about30 years ago and haven't dropped them since...
December 12, 2016
Leonard Cohen's bildungsroman is devastatingly well written, but his hero (and stand-in) is such a cad it's dispiriting.
February 17, 2017
Loved this funny and beautiful, poetic book (The Favourite Game) when i was in my early 20's, and loved it just as much rereading it a few years ago. Novels written by poets are the F*#%ing best.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews