Leslie Cohen

This is the classic tale of boy meets girl: Girl…goes home with someone else. Meet Eve. She’s a dreamer, a feeler, a careening well of sensitivities who can’t quite keep her feet on the ground, or steer clear of trouble. She’s a laugher, a crier, a quirky and quick-witted bleeding-heart-worrier. Meet Ben. He’s an engineer, an expert at leveling floors who likes order, structure, and straight lines. He doesn’t opine, he doesn’t ruminate, he doesn’t simmer until he boils over. So naturally, when the two first cross paths, sparks don’t exactly fly. But then they meet again. And again. And then, finally, they find themselves with a deep yet fragile connection that will change the course of their relationship—possibly forever. Follow Eve and Ben as they navigate their twenties on a winding journey through first jobs, first dates, and first breakups; through first reunions, first betrayals and, maybe, first love. This is When Harry Met Sally reimagined; a charming tale told from two unapologetically original points of view. With an acerbic edge and heartwarming humor, debut novelist Leslie Cohen takes us on a tour of what life looks like when it doesn’t go according to plan, and explores the complexity, chaos, and comedy in finding a relationship built to last.

This Love Story Will Self-Destruct

A timely and hilarious millennial women's fiction novel about two friends who decide to give up their search for a perfect man and devote their lives to each other--but their careful plan soon begins to unravel with unexpected consequences. For many women, finding the man of their dreams can be something of a nightmare. Luckily, they can often rely on their friends for the support they so desperately need. Friends for over a decade, Amanda and Sophie decide to flip the script. Why can't they spend their lives with each other and just keep men on the side for fun, sex, and occasionally fixing things around the house? Amanda is a lawyer who excels in her professional life but crumbles at the slightest sign of a common cold. Sophie is an aspiring artist who has lived all over the world and doesn't crumble, period. Together since freshman year of college, they've been through it all. But when their romantic lives explode at the same time, they decide that enough is enough. Enough pretending that traditional relationships work for everyone. Enough fantasizing about an old-fashioned ideal. They enter into a mutual arrangement: They will rely on each other and give men the secondary role that they deserve. And much to their surprise, it actually works. Amanda and Sophie fix up a dilapidated brownstone and create the home they've always wanted. Soon, they have love and emotional support as well as a wide variety of male "crushes" on the side. But when one of their crushes becomes something more, Amanda and Sophie must reconsider the life they've begun to build and how far they're willing to go to keep it.

My Ride Or Die

The tall Tamarin bipeds, tailed and furry, move out from their planet in search of new suitable planets which they can adapt to their needs and then colonize. They study the solar system and discover that Earth is already inhabited by intelligent beings. They erect a communication facility on the Hopi Reservation and send holographic messages to the humans who have gathered around the circular structure. Six of the aliens transport down to Earth and are hosted on the Reservation by two older Hopis, two young scientists and an anthropologist and his two students. The humans communicate in words; the Tamarins, in strings of buzzing sounds. They cannot understand each other and cannot bridge the gap with their sophisticated electronic speech analyzers. The breakthrough is accomplished through the efforts of the two alien children who learn to speak English on their own. The tots are able to effect communication between the two groups, and eventually to teach English to their elders. Interests in music also serve to bind the two groups in friendship. Problems arise when a paranoid senior scientist and a xenophobic general join with a fundamentalist right wing minister to attempt a coup against the Tamarins. The problem reaches a crisis at a UN meeting where the United State President introduces the aliens to the General Assembly. An uprising is quelled, and the United Nations members help the aliens with their colonization problem. Common interests and problems arise that are religious in nature. Resolution involves a trip to Mt. Sinai by our major characters and the undertaking of a trip back to Tamarinoch, the alien home planet.

Children of the Lattice

A timely and hilarious millennial women’s fiction novel about two friends who decide to give up their search for a perfect man and devote their lives to each other—but their careful plan soon begins to unravel with unexpected consequences. Fall in love. Get married. Turn to your female friends to be truly understood. Friends for over a decade, Amanda and Sophie decide it’s time to flip the script. Why not spend their lives with each other and keep men on the side for fun, sex, and occasionally fixing things around the house? Amanda is a lawyer who excels in her professional life but crumbles at the slightest sign of a common cold. Sophie is an aspiring artist who has lived all over the world and doesn’t crumble, period. Together, they’ve been through it all. But when their romantic lives implode at the same time, they decide enough is enough. Enough pretending that traditional relationships work for everyone. Enough fantasizing about an old-fashioned ideal. They decide to form an alliance: They will rely on each other and give men the secondary role that they deserve. And much to their surprise, it actually works. They fix up a run-down brownstone and create the home they’ve always wanted. Soon, they have love and emotional support as well as a wide variety of male “crushes” on the side. But when one of their crushes becomes something more, Amanda and Sophie must reconsider the life they’ve begun to build and how far they’re willing to go to keep it. In this brilliantly funny novel, Leslie Cohen asks: must friendship always be second to love? This is female friendship at its finest. Smart. Witty. And no holds barred. “A delightful story of female friendship that will have you reaching for your phone to call your best friend.”--Jill Shalvis, New York Times bestselling author

A Novel

My Ride or Die

Rendered in bronze, covered in white lacquer, two women sit together on a park bench in Greenwich Village. One of the women touches the thigh of her partner as they gaze into each other’s eyes. The two women are part of George Segal’s iconic sculpture “Gay Liberation,” but these powerful symbols were modeled on real people: Leslie Cohen and her partner (now wife) Beth Suskin. In this evocative memoir, Cohen tells the story of a love that has lasted for over fifty years. Transporting the reader to the pivotal time when brave gay women and men carved out spaces where they could live and love freely, she recounts both her personal struggles and the accomplishments she achieved as part of New York’s gay and feminist communities. Foremost among these was her 1976 cofounding of the groundbreaking women’s nightclub Sahara, which played host to such luminaries as Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Pat Benatar, Ntozake Shange, Rita Mae Brown, Adrienne Rich, Patti Smith, Bella Abzug, and Jane Fonda. The Audacity of a Kiss is a moving and inspiring tale of how love, art, and solidarity can overcome oppression.

Love, Art, and Liberation

The Audacity of a Kiss

The poems and stories in this book deal with everyday situations, and place them in a framework that transcends time. They highlight the special feelings and events of the life cycle: the birth of a child, the death of a parent, and all of the rites of passage that intervene. The focus is on commonalities: the shared feelings of human beings across the great divides of culture, continent, and time.

Leslie Cohen

About

Books

Join the club