Hydra and the Bananas of Leonard Cohen: A Search for Serenity in the Sun

English poet Roger Green left the safety of God, country, and whiskey to immerse himself in an austere and sober life on the Greek Island of Hydra. But when Green discovered that his terrace overlooked the garden of sixties balladeer Leonard Cohen, he became obsessed with Cohen's songs, wives, and banana tree. Hydra starts with a poem the author wrote and recited for his fifty-seventh birthday (borrowing the meter of Cohen's Suzanne, and ripe with references to the song), with Cohen's ex-partner Suzanne, who may or may not be the subject of Cohen's song, in the audience. By turns playful and philosophic, Green's unconventional memoir tells the story of his journey down the rabbit hole of obsession, as he confronts the meaning of poetry, history, and his own life. Beginning as a poetic meditation upon Leonard Cohen's bananas, Green's bardic pilgrimage takes the reader on various twists and turns until, at last, the poet accepts the joy of accepting his fate.

Author: Roger Green
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 09/01/2003
Pages: 217
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.02lbs
Size: 9.50h x 6.38w x 0.84d
ISBN: 9780465027590

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 08/11/2003 pg. 272

About the Author
Roger Green is an English poet living on the Greek island of Hydra. Among his publications are several books of poetry, including Wolvercote Dreaming and Notes from Overground by Tiresias. In 1987 the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary published his translation of the Akathistos Hymn by Romanos the Melodist.