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MATTI FRIEDMAN is an award-winning journalist and author. Born in Toronto and based in Jerusalem, his work has appeared regularly in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Tablet, and elsewhere. Friedman's last book, Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel, won the 2019 Natan Prize and the Canadian Jewish Book Award for history. Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier's Story of a Forgotten War was chosen in 2016 as a New York Times Notable Book and one of Amazon's 10 best books of the year. His first book, The Aleppo Codex, won the 2014 Sami Rohr Prize and the ALA's Sophie Brody Medal.
A fascinating and intense account of Leonard Cohen's time in Israel during the 19-day Yom Kippur War of 1973. A must for any Leonard Cohen completist, with excerpts from his unpublished manuscripts from that time. Soulful and thoughtfully done. -Suzanne Vega WHO BY FIRE is a stunning resurrection of a moment in the life of Leonard Cohen and the history of Israel. It's the story of a young artist in crisis and a young country at war, and the powerful resonance of the chord struck between them. A beautiful, haunting book. -Nicole Krauss A short, symphonic book of remarkable stories of yearning, love, and war, whose leitmotif is a haunted artist bearing secret chords that enchant the world. -Rabbi David Wolpe Matti Friedman excels at finding the great significance in forgotten things: forgotten manuscripts, forgotten wars, forgotten spies. In this account of Leonard Cohen's forgotten concert tour during the Yom Kippur War, not only is a hidden side of Cohen revealed but so too a hidden side of Israel. WHO BY FIRE is a book about the change that happens when you come through the flames. -David Bezmozgis Although he could not have anticipated it when he was researching and writing, the symbolic timing and importance of Matti Friedman's latest book, Who by Fire, is particularly poignant. ... [A] beautifully intimate portrait. -Quillette A revealing and absorbing account of those few short weeks when the fate of Israel was at the precipice, but its revelations will stay with the reader for much longer than it takes to read the slim volume. ... Friedman's compelling narrative of a pivotal war that left an indelible mark on a nation, the Jewish people and one musician draws readers in and doesn't let go of us until the last page has been finished. -Jewish Journal Friedman illuminates in this fascinating tale an extraordinary chapter in the career of singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) that left a lasting impact on the state of Israel. ... This demonstration of the power of song will stun fans of the legendary artist. -Publishers Weekly (starred review) Compelling .... Cohen fans will savor this little-known footnote in the singer's life. -Kirkus Reviews With remarkable insight, discipline, heart, scope, stunning reporting, and sometimes quite beautiful writing, Friedman has recreated those days of war and music, regeneration and humility, that freed Cohen to create some of his greatest works of art. -Mother Jones Compelling... . [Friedman] beautifully ties together ideas about the author's craft, identity, and connection to Israel.... A brief, audacious, thorough book turning ... a dream world unconventionally and surprisingly real. -Pittsburgh Post-Gazette A word-of-mouth treasure.... Offers vital insight into Cohen's trajectory as a songwriter and the scope of his work. -City Journal An important hybrid work of music and war reporting. -Mitchell Kaplan, Boca Magazine
