At Your Own Risk: A Saint's Testament

by Derek Jarman (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1992

  $21.40

  One of the most controversial filmmakers of our time (Caravaggio, The Last of England, Edward II), and outspoken crusader for gay civil rights in Britain, Derek Jarman was diagnosed HIV positive in December of 1986. At Your Own risk is Derek's distillation of his philosophy of life and an impassioned and witty guide to gay sexuality from the repressed 40s through the libidinous 60s to the Aids-chilled present. Derek confronts his death, describing the reality of being HIV positive. Of a walk home after a sexual encounter on Hampstead Heath, he writes: Why are you doing this, Derek? You shouldn't be standing under these cold stars. You shouldn't have the stamina to do this.' The answer is that I didn't have the stamina, but throwing my arms around a stranger is an act of defiance that keeps me alive. At Your Own Risk is an act of defiance - a defiant statement against a society that vacillates between indifference and moral censure on the issue of Aids and a defiant celebration of gay sexuality. At Your Own Risk argues that if you are HIV positive you can only remain frightened for so long and that there comes a point at which fear gives way to acceptance - a point after which you have to start living again.

• New

  paperback
  

  $12.36

  Spanning his entire life and divided into decades from the forties to the nineties, this book brings together Jarman's poetry, prose, memoirs, photographs and film transcripts and includes newspaper extracts on aspects of gay culture. The result is a rounded portrait of homosexuality through the twentieth century seen through a fiercely personal perspective. At Your Own Risk is angry, entertaining and humane, both a powerful argument against homophobia and a wild celebration of an individual's sexuality and freedom.