I realized today that, although I organized my posts offering fundamental information about Leonard Cohen under the rubric of “Big Little Golden Book” because I read batches of Golden Books as a child and adored them, using that title was a poor choice.
Happily, this was a spontaneous epiphany. I received no threatening letters from lawyers or publishers, no one opined that I might be sleeping with the fishes, nor was I beset with visions of Jesus lamenting my sins. I just had one of those moments of understanding, based on the 38,229 repetitions of the parental mantra, “How would you feel if that happened to you?” As it turned out, that mundane insight was sufficient to compel me to make the necessary changes.
I know, I would have preferred something more dramatic as well.
Anyway, the “Golden Book” moniker has been changed to
The Not Too Big, Not Too Little Pyritic Book Of Leonard Cohen
And the graphic has been transformed as well.
The Reverse Alchemy Angle
For those of you not up on your geologic term, “pyritic” is the adjectival form of “pyrite.” Pyrite, according to Wikipedia, “is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS2. This mineral’s metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool’s gold due to its resemblance to gold.”
Golden Book imitation, Fool’s Gold, get it?
Pyrite, AKA Fool’s Gold
Readers may note that the subtitle of the Leonard Cohen Primer “The Not Too Big, Not Too Little Pyritic Book Of Leonard Cohen,” references the “Big Little Golden Book” appellation in homage to the original series that still evokes in me positive memories of early reading experiences. In addition to the inclusion of “pyritic” in the name, the spine of the book shown above is based on a collapsed graphic of a chunk of pyrite.
