When Beautiful Losers, Leonard Cohen's legendary second novel was published in 1966 it was described by The New York Times as 'gorgeously written...overwhelming'. In the middle of this novel comes a section beginning with the words 'God is Alive. Magic is Afoot', a powerful anthem in the vein of Cohen's classic Hallelujah. The 400 or so words that follow are arguably some of the finest that Cohen ever wrote. In them he weaves an intricate web connecting God and Magic, which leaves the reader wondering where one ends and the other begins.
