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Smiling in Slow Motion
Smiling in Slow Motion
Jan 20, 2025 7:59 PM

Author:Derek Jarman,Neil Bartlett

Smiling in Slow Motion

'The life-affirming expression of an artist engaged in living to the full' The Times

Smiling in Slow Motion is Derek Jarman's last journal, stretching from May 1991 until a fortnight before his death in February 1994. Jarman writes with his trademark humour and candour about friends and enemies, as he races through his final years of film-making, gardening and radical political protest.

Written from Jarman's Charing Cross Road flat, his famed garden at Dungeness, and finally from his bed in St Bartholomew's Hospital, Jarman meditates on his own deteriorating health and the loss of his contemporaries. Yet Smiling in Slow Motion is not simply a chronicle of illness and regret: it is, at its heart, one of endeavour, determination and pride.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY NEIL BARTLETT

Reviews

Gossipy, candid, funny, and, as Jarman’s illness takes hold, powerfully moving

—— Choice Magazine

Present on every page is the creative sparkle and compellingly generous spirit of a man who was in every way an uncompromising individual

—— The Times

In these diaries... the artist and film director emerges as a down-to-earth visionary... this perceptive and enjoyable work is something of a miracle

—— Independent

For all his anger, Jarman never seems brutalised. He retains his humanity and his good humour. His is a wonderfully garrulous, mercurial, polymathic daemon

—— Literary Review

Jarman [is] the sort of troublemaking visionary who one day may be compared with Blake

—— John Gill , Time Out

The funniest man in, well, pretty much all of the known universe

—— Los Angeles Times

A consistent intelligence underpins Izzard's whimsy

—— Chortle

The perfect present for music mums and dads

—— Daily Mirror

Funny, enlightening, gossipy’

—— The Herald

Sparks with admiration and grievances, lust and envy

—— Sunday Telegraph

Engrossing

—— Mail on Sunday

There have been many books about David Bowie ... but Dylan Jones's is among the best

—— Observer

The definitive account of the great man’s life, in the words of those who knew him best … lively, funny and warm – and the story, even the well-known bits, still staggers and amazes. It’s a brilliant story, and it is tremendously well-told here

—— Esquire

A magisterial compilation of startling insights

—— The Oldie

One of the most colourful and intimate portraits yet painted of Bowie

—— Vogue

A vivid catalogue of anecdote, opinion, gossip and memoir

—— Telegraph Magazine

There is literally no better way to spend your time than by reading about the late, great, beautiful and brilliant David Bowie, brought to you by fellow superfan and GQ editor Dylan Jones

—— Tatler

This oral history is by far the best … It’s gossipy, fascinating stuff

—— The Sun

The perfect accompaniment to roaring fires and languid winter evenings, this book
guarantees to see any man through the festive period

—— Independent

A must-have for Bowie fans

—— Daily Mirror

Revelatory and surprising – perfect for the Ziggy completist

—— New York Magazine

Beguiling … the fabulosity of Bowie’s life and times lends itself extraordinarily well
to the oral history form

—— San Francisco Chronicle

An affectionate, sometimes surprising, always fascinating picture of a Star Man in the real world

—— STELLA magazine

Of all the volumes to appear since Bowie’s death last year, this is perhaps the most useful

—— i paper

A treat for enthusiasts […] it bulges with essential and telling Spinal Tappish gossip

—— Guardian

An intimate, detailed and gossip-spangled survey of the life of the great enigma

—— Strong Words magazine

There are sixty-two and a half million books written about David Bowie; this is the one that has been unanimously praised. Indeed, David Bowie: A life might be the only one that you really need.

—— Loud and Quiet Magazine

You can go to any page and read something really interesting. It’s the only book about another artist that I’ve really enjoyed.

—— Chris Difford , Daily Express
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