It's Only Forever

“Jes Battis takes readers on a nostalgia-laced tour of Henson’s classic film filtered through queer, neurodivergent, and othered lenses. Embrace your inner goblin and dance the magic dance!” — Joe Lipsett, film critic and podcaster
“It’s Only Forever is a tender and beautiful ode to the interwoven cultural touchstones that contribute to the portrait of a life.” — Niko Stratis, author of The Dad Rock that Made Me a Woman
“It’s Only Forever is my favorite kind of book, one that leaves me both giggling and sniffling, highlighting the most impactful lines. Readers will be pulled in by Jes Battis’s quick wit and hilarious prose and will find themselves swirling about in truths so heavy and clear that they will become lost in their own labyrinths of nostalgia and critical reflection. Luckily, unlike many a creature in the film, Battis doesn’t leave you on your own without instructions, but instead carefully unravels the complexity of Jim Henson’s iconic film through a mix of academic readings, nostalgic pop culture considerations, and little windows into their own life. For all the weird kids out there, this book will feel like coming home.” — Cassandra Ozog, co-editor of “You’re Muted”: Performance, Precarity, and the Logic of Zoom
“I thought I’d seen Labyrinth from every angle, but Jes Battis’s thoughtful meditation has uncovered new pathways into the film. Like Sarah’s journey, this book is a reexamination of the ever-shifting nature of dreams, sexual impulses, and the goblins who pursue us, or the goblins we secretly long to join. As a work of art, Labyrinth has always been generous in offering plenty of room for interpretation, and Battis accepts the film’s invitation with vulnerability and insight, drawing on personal memories that shed new light on the importance of exploring mazes. Analytical, intimate, and queer in every sense of the word, this book feels like a natural extension of the nostalgic mental roaming that fans of the film have been happily indulging in for the last forty years.” — Matt Baume, author of Hi Honey, I’m Homo! Sitcoms, Specials, and the Queering of American Culture
“If you are amongst the queers who experienced self-discovery when you first saw the feature film Labyrinth, then this deep dive into the 1986 Bowie-starring masterpiece is for you!” — Autostraddle
“Fables tend to be layered with meaning, and Jes Battis attempts to work through them all in It’s Only Forever, a personal study of Labyrinth … Braiding together memoir and historical research, Battis argues that the film kicks against the prevailing hypercapitalist, heteronormative tendencies of the 1980s.” — Literary Review of Canada

Jes Battis is a queer autistic writer and teacher, and the author of The Winter Knight, the Occult Special Investigator series, and the Parallel Parks series (as Bailey Cunningham). Their work has been shortlisted for a Saskatchewan Book Award and a Sunburst Award, as well as the Ralph Gustafson Poetry Prize. The Winter Knight was featured in the Canada Reads 2024 competition and won both an Independent Publisher’s Award and an Indie Foreword Award. Battis teaches queer and trans studies, medieval literature, and representations of disability/neurodiversity in pop culture at the University of Regina. They live in Regina and spend time with family in Vancouver.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.