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Baggy Red Pants
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Early Praise
“Baggy Red Pants and Other Stories brings Stephen’s psyche-folk-music mindset onto the page with stories that transport me across wide-open roads, from Gallup, NM to Canadian provinces, to hippie communes, to movie sets, to warehouse loading docks, to a music festival on Mars. We meet pig farmers, trash-talking dock workers, a crazed shooter, a Canadian Mountie, hippie girlfriends, an indie cult film director, and winos straight out of a John Steinbeck novel. The narrative gets as close as a switch-blade-to-the-neck and so far away that everything appears miniature, insignificant, unimportant—so why take ourselves so seriously? Why stress over the late bus? Let’s hitch a ride, take a trip with this hitchhiker and see where we go. After all, he’s wearing those far out baggy red pants!
—Christopher Shotola-Hardt, artist
“I just read Stephen Cohen’s charming book. He provides the lucky reader with glimpses into his life by writing scintillating vignettes and sharing his art pieces, poems and lyrics. His is a rare kind of creativity, one that uses everything at his disposal to make something novel and enchanting. This book is proof of his creative genius.”
—Bonnie Bostrom, author of Born Crazy and other
“To read Baggy Red Pants, is to be drawn into the magical world of Stephen Cohen, a world of eternal youth and innocence, crazy off-kilter rhythms, and infectious motifs. His writing, like his music, follows a syncopated beat with a logic of the heart. In his life of hippie hijinx, we glimpse a Tibetan sand painting, that dazzles with its colors and contours then is swept away and seen no more. Like a pair of magical baggy red trousers that dance across the landscape, then disappear into smoke and flames.”
—Rich Hinrichsen, musician and mathematician
“3 Hand Stephen writes in the way he sings. He takes us on a gentle journey that lets us see the unexpected in everyday moments. A path that leaves us with the feeling that what seems to be normal could be magical if we open our eyes and see with our heart.”
—Efrain Rozas, musical artist
Thomas liked to sing his secret songs.
And if the world is not right with Thomas, then something must be wrong.
—from Thomas by Stephen Cohen
And if the world is not right with Thomas, then something must be wrong.
—from Thomas by Stephen Cohen
"Stephen Cohen’s world is keenly observed and deeply felt. He shares all of it, in many media, with all of us. Stephen’s deceptively simple poetry can pack an emotional punch. His music resonates on many levels—charming and playful, as are his hand-crafted
jewelry, art and instruments, yet often poignant and bittersweet. His unique work is heartfelt, haunting and lovely."
jewelry, art and instruments, yet often poignant and bittersweet. His unique work is heartfelt, haunting and lovely."
—Amy Cohen, artist
“The stories, visual art, and songs in this book are magical and ominous portraits of humans in our times. Like T.C. Boyle or Neil Gaiman, Stephen creates an art stew that tastes innocent, earthy, playful and is tinged with pain. You will be full after reading, and will come back for more.”
—Kate Davis, writer and social worker
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About the Author
3 Hand Stephen, a.k.a. Stephen Cohen, is a writer, a performing, recording, and visual artist and a singer/songwriter who has performed in concerts and at festivals across the United States and in Belgium and Spain. Stephen’s first album, The Tree People, recorded in 1979, has been rediscovered in this century and reissued by record companies in Japan and Spain. His latest album release is Where Do We Go? Stephen’s visual art has been featured at galleries, art fairs and festivals in Oregon and California. He lives in Lake Oswego, Oregon. www.3handstephen.com
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