Through the Billboard Promised Land Without Ever Stopping

by Derek Jarman, Philip Hoare (Foreword), Declan Wiffen (Afterword)

Published here for the very first time, ​Through the Billboard Promised Land Without Ever Stopping is Derek Jarman’s only piece of narrative fiction. Written in 1971, it is a surreal, fabular, lyrical work – a literary fairytale acid-trip road movie hybrid – the energies and details of which influenced much of his later work across media.

The richly poetic story, a cinematic prose quest, tracks the journey of a blind young King and his valet, disguised as beggars, who set out in no particular direction and with no particular purpose. Departing from Fargo, across the frontier of Movietown, along the Superhighway and picnicking on the Lawns of Paradise, they encounter vivid characters like Pierrot, Borgia Ginz and Topaz, an Emperor who ‘smiles with the art of mirrors’, as well as a Sphinx with ‘Silence is Golden’ written in her eyes.

The story serves as a foundational text, laying out many of the themes, images and styling of Jarman’s work in painting, film and design whilst also being haunted by the then emerging ecological crisis in its juxtaposition of the beauty of nature with the reckless consumption of modernity.

This edition features facsimile images of the story’s handwritten drafts from Jarman’s archive, a link to an exclusive audio recording of Jarman himself reading the story in full, and is comprehensively informed by a vivid foreword from Philip Hoare, a deeply researched afterword by Jarman scholar Declan Wiffen, and a warm memoir by the artist Michael Ginsborg, a close friend of Jarman’s throughout the period of the story’s writing.

Genres: Fiction, LGBT, Fantasy, Queer, Magical Realism, Short Stories

120 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2022

About the author

Derek Jarman was an English film director, stage designer, artist, and writer.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a strange phenomenon that I typically tend to enjoy the idea of Jarman than the actual reality of his work - for example in this book, his short story wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea, albeit a pacy and intriguing “narrative”, but all the other texts written by those who knew him or admired his work had a lot more to sink my teeth into and enjoy!

[Lars Meijer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jarman is, los van zijn activistisme en artistieke werk, ook gewoon een heel comfy prozaschrijver.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Het is bijna onmogelijk om een review te schrijven over een short story als deze.
Dit verhaal liet mijn fantasie hardlopen en op meerdere momenten van de dag was het onmogelijk om het tempo aan te houden. Ik herlas veel gedeeltes op de momenten dat we even snel gingen en dat zwevende gevoel was erg speciaal.

Dit verhaal zal op meerdere momenten in m’n leven een compleet nieuwe vorm aannemen en ik kan niet wachten om al deze vormen te mogen ontdekken.
Derek Jarman is een fantastische schrijver en filmmaker en zal voor altijd een plek in m’n hart hebben. <3

[Katie Goldfinch · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

The text itself is beautiful, the first essay in the series following it is also lovely. The latter two were not as engaging!

[Caspar "moved to storygraph" Bryant]

big MWAH

[Maestron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alice i underlandet fast ännu mer koks. Man känner så starkt Jarmans visioner bakom den här berättelsen. Jag föreställer mig honom sitta där och forma texten som en vas på en drejskiva, och jag förstår exakt vad som händer, den kära kära processen, den abstrakta tankekartan och blicken bortvänd… Men ändå så finns det ingeting i historien för läsaren att greppa tag i. Det är bara Alice och Underlandet och inget mer, en feberdröm, en acid trip. Visst att man läser som om det vore en retelling av Amerikat och det hade varit poignant, eller skulle kunna vara, men det räcker inte för att orden ska få fäste i någon ven och/eller artär (är alltid på jakt efter blodproppar antar jag). Jag föredrog mycket mer Michael Ginsborgs inlägg om Jarman som person, hans liv. Mycket mer inspirerande. Synd verkligen…

[Christopher Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an absolute breath of fresh air, for a little book it’s MASSIVELY BEAUTIFUL ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[Parker Lapointe · Rating 2 out of 5]

idk how to rate this book. like maybe a two but maybe a three but also… maybe a one. who’s to say?

[Lien · Rating 3 out of 5]

The essays surrounding it were definitely more interesting than the short story itself. But I’m glad I read it.

[Farida · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Owing to lack of interest, tomorrow has been cancelled, you are now in the strawberry beds of the eternal present."

[Sophie Sutcliffe]

bit wacky

[t · Rating 4 out of 5]

like reading a film or a strange series of paintings or listening in to somebody’s half remembered dream. a delightful (re)appearance of much loved jarman staples and recyclings.
great essays too.

[martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d give the actual story of Through the Billboard Promised Land 5 stars but felt that I should retract 1 star for the various chapters of outsider perspectives on Jarman. I did like Philip Hoare’s foreword but found the final couple tiresome. I would’ve preferred the magic of the story to have just ended with the book instead of an almost assassination via the over mythologising of his work & life, (I did appreciate the Ginsborg section, more pertinent to the artist’s character).
What a trip. It was like reading a film, and the strong visual imagery was consistently conjured in my mind unlike any reading experience previously. I loved how wild yet beautiful and accurate the story was, as meandering as it suggests and going nowhere except everywhere.
As someone who has seen his work in almost all of its other forms it was really interesting to understand yet another medium and the interconnectedness of his practice. I think I might need to spend more time thinking before I can fully crystallise my thoughts, it was that absurdly good.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jarman's sole piece of published fiction. A short story featuring the travels and encounters of a blind boy king and his valet. There is much good writing and vivid imagery, and the piece does well in describing the tawdry glamour of modern culture, and the oppression of a consumer society, sometimes by couching them in mythological and symbolic terms. There is an uneven quality to the work, and a tendency for the prose to head towards the purple. The accompanying essays are very interesting for their comments on and insights into Jarman's various artistic worlds and works, and for an examination of how he loved to recycle and reuse material and ideas.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a privilege to read Jarman's only "prose work" (although it's important to note this edition was transcribed from a recorded reading by the man himself; even the title was a shifting, variable thing, according to different drafts and its use in other contexts) and to connect it to his other practices! The kaleidoscopic imagery, the alternately fawning and dismissive attitude to pop and circumstance, the wrestling of tradition and antiquity from the state and the academy, the Dionysian non-narrative.

It's all in there: the collage, the "love of language" (blech phrase but true statement), the cast of characters, familiar from his paintings/films/diaries/gardening. Cracking.

[Juliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Can you hear the sea in the roar of the surf on the shingles embracing the earth? Can you see the white headlands and the white breakers in the sun?” Through the Billboard Promised Land Without Ever Stopping is Derek Jarman’s only known work of narrative(ish) fiction, a strange and dreamlike story of travels through a land akin to America, with its own feverish quality of excess and unreality. Amethyst the King and his valet John leave home on the King’s whim: “It is always like this, the young King thought. Here in Fargo nothing changes.” As they move further through their journey, they encounter people of increasing oddness, visions and experiences more surreal by the minute. “And suddenly it was raining, and a rainbow stretched in a great arc in front of them, and the ship sailed through the centre of the arc, and the bands of colour passed over them reflecting in the rain, and they sailed into calm waters.” Narrative is loose and unfolds heavy on symbolism “And so they danced, on and on, in an infinity of graceful turns, a spiral of glittering confetti, which slowly unwound through the cavernous spaces of the great ballroom, bubbles in the champagne of history, twinkling for their moment.” Jarman’s story bears the disposition of its queer, artistic writer, published here for the first time amidst a brief intro by Philip Hoare, firsthand biography by Michael Ginsborg, an afterword by Declan Wiffen, and a note by co-editor Gareth Evans. I’ll finish with one of its final images: “The whole scene fades into darkness, the waves have formed a labyrinth in the sun’s shadow. The last bird has sung. Colour has deserted the world.”

[Beth Linfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rarely feel this conflicted with books I read so this was a difficult one to rate. I am definitely interested in learning more about Jarman and seeing some of his short films etc but I don’t feel like the anti-narrative style is for me. I love surreal writing but the complete confusion and disappointment at constant scene changes that went along with this story was disorientating to follow. Having said that some of his surreal imagery and style was really interesting

[Soph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book includes a collection of short essays about Jarman’s life, works, and how this story connects. Without the essays, I wouldn’t have gained much from the story itself - I think it requires some knowledge of Jarman’s film/creative style and life events to really engage deeply, because it’s such an absurd and non-narrative story. Reading the essays and then rereading the story helped me to get a lot more out of it, and made me want to watch more of Jarman’s films.

[Tilly Bott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Derek Jarman!

‘In the south, where the night sparkles with a score of stars for each of ours here in the cold north; phosphorescent sea creatures sparkle in the turbulence behind a ship, and glow secretly in the sand where a traveller places his foot. Now, in front of them, lay a pale coral sandbar, which wound like a snail's shell through the still jade of the sea, and the water at its rim sparkled with these silent sudden fireworks.’

‘The sandbar stretched into a vast desert, and the small ripples where the wind had blown grew into moun-tains, and so they were caught in the vast tidal sweep of the earth. The sun set and rose, and in every step they seemed to grow smaller, and the sand expanded in all directions, now blotting out the two distant figures, now spreading infinite planes before them and cascading around them. And at last, when they seemed to walk in eternity itself, they stumbled up a dune to be greeted by the two figures who had always been before them; and recognising themselves in a moment which was like the clash of two great cymbals.’

[chris ༄ ༘⋆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i usually beat myself up for taking forever to finish a book but i’m actually glad i brought the promised billboard experience back to america with me especially considering how non linear the narrative and (non)fictional world building are in this unfinished tale … the fact that the story of John and the King never end really bring home the eternal legacy and critical geography of jarman’s work and politics

[Elvira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only a review for Jarman’s words:

A road story that takes you through a bizarre land, which is full of dreamy landscapes and odd characters, that seem to represent different facets of American culture as well as queer culture. Jarman is able to produce such clear images with each sentence

I really can’t wait to dive further into his filmography.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐ As much as I did like the imagery and writing in this, it felt a bit lacking to me. I'm not hugely familiar with Jarman's other works, so I'm guessing if I was I may have gotten more out of this.

[kvir klub · Rating 4 out of 5]

“the archaeology of sound has only been perfected in the last decades and the systematic exploration and cataloguing of archaeological remains was, until recently, undertaken in a haphazard way”

I didn’t know that this fragment of voiceover from BLUE was from this book! I love it so much

[Leeza · Rating 4 out of 5]

ahh i love <33 v good essays contextualising, shorter than expected but very rich

[Alexander Callaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very rich and cinematic reading experience. Excellent accompanying essays for context.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fiction doesn't appear to have been one of Jarman's many skills, the accompanying essays are all very good though.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stupid and silly and great.

[Liberty · Rating 3 out of 5]

The accompanying essays on Jarman might be more interesting than the novella itself. I think if I'd read it at 16, it would have had a profound effect on me.

[Natalya De La Motte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful

[Ioannis Touras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small and great.