A Ballet of Lepers: A Novel and Stories by Leonard Cohen - Fiction - Hardback

Titles in This Set:
A Ballet of Lepers
Saint Jig
O.K. Herb, O.K. Flo
Signals
Polly
A Hundred Suits from Russia
Ceremonies
Mister Euemer Episodes
The Shaving Ritual
Lullaby
A Week is a Very Long Time
The Jukebox Heart
David Who?
Short Story on Greek Island
ive had lots of pets
Strange Boy with a Hammer
Trade

Format: Hardback

Overview:
National Bestseller Leonard Cohen’s A Ballet of Lepers is a posthumous collection that pairs a piercing novella with a suite of stories and a playscript, all written in the late 1950s and brought together in 2022. This edition invites readers behind the fame and the stage to witness the raw imaginative force that would later define Cohen’s music and poetry. The titular novella unfolds through a solitary Montreal bookkeeper whose life collides with violence and longing, exposing the fragility of desire and the costs of love. The fifteen stories—miniatures that range from intimate vignettes to existential parables—probe power, vulnerability, and the tension between sacred and profane longing. The playscript, Trade, adds another facet to Cohen’s early dramatic impulse, hinting at performance as a vessel for psychological insight. Together, they form a cohesive, luminous portrait of a young writer wrestling with guilt, beauty, and transcendence, and they illuminate the roots of Cohen’s unforgettable artistic voice.

What This Collection Covers:
Across A Ballet of Lepers, Cohen maps a trajectory from the intimate cityscape of Montreal to the broader, mythic questions that would pervade his later work. The collection examines love and power, control and surrender, and the danger and allure of art as a path to meaning. The stories showcase Cohen’s deft linguistic agility—crisp wit, precise detail, and a fearless eye for human frailty. Themes of shame, unworthiness, and longing recur as building blocks for larger questions about freedom, family, faith, and the self. The juxtaposition of a sharp, sometimes brutal realism with lyrical, almost visionary moments reveals a writer who could shift from burlesque to prose-poetry in a single paragraph. This edition honors Cohen’s early experimentation while presenting a unified literary vision that resonates with readers who prize craft, mood, and the stubborn beauty of difficult truths.

Book-by-Book Guide:

A Ballet of Lepers
A stark, hypnotic novel framed by longing, peril, and tension.

Saint Jig
A brisk, unsettling tale about obsession, faith, and control tonight.

O.K. Herb, O.K. Flo
A wry, intimate exploration of love tested by consequences together.

Signals
An intimate vignette on miscommunication, longing, and fragile bonds formed.

Polly
Tense, cracked social dynamics through a young girl's power play.

A Hundred Suits from Russia
A sharp cultural satire about identity, desire, and perception colliding.

Ceremonies
A reflective piece on ritual, memory, and familial loss habits.

Mister Euemer Episodes
Comic, anxious vignettes about suburbia and self-image in small moments.

The Shaving Ritual
A precise, unsettling meditation on self-imposed rituals and purity everyday.

Lullaby
A mother or lover's promise shadowed by fear and protection.

A Week is a Very Long Time
A claustrophobic arc about time, memory, and change in relationships.

The Jukebox Heart
A lyric-tinged piece about music, longing, and belonging in crowds.

David Who?
A witty, self-aware portrait of art, ego, and longing inside.

Short Story on Greek Island
A sunlit meditation on exile, friendship, and desire abroad too.

ive had lots of pets
A playful, strange piece about companionship, boundaries, and belonging.

Strange Boy with a Hammer
A brisk, troubling fable about innocence, violence, and revelation.

Trade
A playscript glimpse into dialogue and psychic performance dynamics.

Who This Set Is Perfect For:
This collection is ideal for readers who relish literary fiction with a bold, unflinching edge. It’s perfect for Cohen fans seeking a peek at the artist’s early storytelling voice, students studying mid-20th-century Canadian literature, and book clubs exploring how short fiction can coexist with a longer narrative arc. Gift buyers will appreciate the way the volume stitches a novella, stories, and drama into a single, collectible offering. The set also appeals to readers who enjoy psychologically rich, language-forward fiction that refuses easy answers while inviting deep reflection on desire, ethics, and the limits of human connection.

Key Benefits:

• Comprehensive Cohen collection: novel, 15 stories, and a playscript in one volume
• Compact hardback edition, ideal for collectors and gift sets
• Insight into Cohen’s early voice and thematic preoccupations
• Rich reading experience for students of literature and music heritage
• Compact, durable packaging for long-term shelf presence
• Excellent for reader-curious fans exploring Canadian literary roots

About the Author:
Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) was a Canadian poet, novelist, and musician whose work bridged literature and song. A Ballet of Lepers marks his earliest published fiction, revealing a precocious, lyric imagination that would flower in his later novels and in the songs that made him a global figure. Composed in Montreal and on Hydra, Cohen’s early stories fuse sharp social observation with spiritual longing, often exploring themes of shame, love, and the search for transcendence. The collection captures Cohen’s rapid experimentation with form—narrative realism, parable, and lyric intensity—before he became known worldwide for his music. Edited by Alexandra Pleshoyano with an afterword, this volume places Cohen among postwar writers who blended narrative daring with poetic cadence, offering a crucial window into the roots of a formidable artistic arc.

Why You’ll Love This Set:
Owning A Ballet of Lepers provides a rare, intimate entry point into Cohen’s writing universe—the fuel that fed his celebrated songs and longer fiction. The complete set inside one elegant hardback offers both scholarly value and pure reading pleasure: a seamless progression through a young writer’s mind, a chance to compare prose to later lyric genius, and a durable keepsake for any serious collection. It’s an ideal choice for thoughtful gift-giving and for readers who want a holistic view of Cohen’s creative evolution from the very start of his literary career.

Please Note: The individual books included in this listing will be dispatched as per the original UK ISBN and UK edition cover image shown in the image.