Yes and no
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Let Us Compare Mythologies was Leonard Cohen's first volume of poetry, published in 1956 when he was 22 years old. Only 400 copies were issued at the time, This edition is the first since. Scarcity and Cohen's subsequent fame as a singer songwriter means original copies are collectable - and correspondingly expensive.
The re-issue is not strictly a "new" edition but a facsimile of the original, including the illustrations by Freda Guttman - but with "50th ANNIVERSARY FACSIMILE EDITION" appearing prominently on the dust jacket.
The historical appeal to the Cohen fan is obvious, but does the poetry stand the test of time? Yes and no.
Inevitably some poems work better than others. Cohen's lifetime obsessions with sex and religious imagery are firmly in place, but less worked through than they would become. Beat influences are common - it is 1956. Despite ocassional gauche world-weariness there is generally an attractive freshness. At times it is easy to imagine particular lines being sung, but this is poetry not song lyrics and some of it is difficult. A comparison with 1964's collection, Flowers for Hitler shows how far Cohen travelled in the intervening years towards his individual style.
There may be interest in the book because of the success of Cohen's most recent collection, Book of Longing. If you are looking for an introduction to Cohen's poetry then Longing is a better place to start, with Poems 1956-1968, and Stranger Music after that. I suspect Mythologies will appeal mainly to those with an established interest in the man and his work.
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