Few novels have caused as much debate as Hubert Selby Jr.'s
notorious masterpiece, Last Exit to Brooklyn, and this Penguin
Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Irvine Welsh,
author of Trainspotting. Described by various reviewers as hellish
and obscene, Last Exit to Brooklyn tells the stories of New Yorkers
who at every turn confront the worst excesses in human nature. Yet
there are moments of exquisite tenderness in these troubled lives.
Georgette, the transvestite who falls in love with a callous
hoodlum; Tralala, the conniving prostitute who plumbs the depths of
sexual degradation; and Harry, the strike leader who hides his true
desires behind a boorish masculinity, are unforgettable creations.
Last Exit to Brooklyn was banned by British courts in 1967, a
decision that was reversed the following year with the help of a
number of writers and critics including Anthony Burgess and Frank
Kermode. Hubert Selby, Jr. (1928-2004) was born in Brooklyn, New
York. At the age of 15, he dropped out of school and went to sea
with the merchant marines. While at sea he was diagnosed with lung
disease. With no other way to make a living, he decided to try
writing: 'I knew the alphabet. Maybe I could be a writer.' In 1964
he completed his first book, Last Exit to Brooklyn, which has since
become a cult classic. In 1966, it was the subject of an obscenity
trial in the UK. His other books include The Room, The Demon,
Requiem for a Dream, The Willow Tree and Waiting Period. In 2000,
Requiem for a Dream was adapted into a film starring Jared Leto and
Ellen Burstyn, and directed by Darren Aronofsky. If you enjoyed
Last Exit to Brooklyn, you might like Larry McMurty's The Last
Picture Show, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. 'Last Exit
to Brooklyn will explode like a rusty hellish bombshell over
America, and still be eagerly read in 100 years' Allen Ginsberg 'An
urgent tickertape from hell' Spectator
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