Hubert "Cubby" Selby Jr. (July 23, 1928 – April 26, 2004) was an American writer. Two of his novels, ''

Last Exit to Brooklyn ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' is a 1964 novel by American author Hubert Selby Jr. The novel takes a harsh, uncompromising look at lower class Brooklyn in the 1950s written in spare, stripped-down prose. Critics and fellow writers praised the b ...

'' (1964) and '' Requiem for a Dream'' (1978), explore worlds in the New York area and were adapted as films, both of which he appeared in. His first novel was prosecuted for obscenity in the United Kingdom and banned in Italy, prompting defences from many leading authors such as

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993) who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, dy ...

. He influenced multiple generations of writers. For more than 20 years, he taught creative writing at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in Los Angeles, where he lived full-time after 1983.

Biography

Early life and education

Hubert Selby was born in 1928 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York City, to Adalin and Hubert Selby Sr., a merchant seaman and former coal miner from Kentucky. Selby and his wife Adalin had settled in Bay Ridge. Hubert attended public schools, including the competitive

Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School ( ) is a co-ed, State school, public, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school in Manhattan, New York City. The school, commonly called "Stuy" ( ) by its students, faculty, a ...

. Selby Jr. dropped out of school at the age of 15 to work in the city docks before becoming a merchant seaman in 1947. Having been diagnosed with tuberculosis, he was taken off the ship in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

, Germany, and sent back to the United States. For the next three and a half years, Selby was in and out of the U.S. Public Health Hospital (part of a system of hospitals originally established to care for merchant seamen) in New York for treatment. Selby went through an experimental drug treatment,

streptomycin Streptomycin is an antibiotic medication used to treat a number of bacterial infections, including tuberculosis, Mycobacterium avium complex, ''Mycobacterium avium'' complex, endocarditis, brucellosis, Burkholderia infection, ''Burkholderia'' i ...

, that later caused some severe complications. During an operation, surgeons removed several of Selby's ribs to reach his lungs. One of his lungs collapsed, and doctors removed part of the other.

Becoming a writer

For the next ten years, Selby was mostly bedridden; he was frequently hospitalized with a variety of lung-related ailments. The doctors offered a bleak prognosis, suggesting he was unlikely to survive long because he "just didn't have enough lung capacity". Gilbert Sorrentino, a childhood friend who had become a writer, encouraged Selby to write fiction. Unable to have regular work because of his health, Selby decided, "I know the alphabet. Maybe I could be a writer." He later wrote:

I was sitting at home and had a profound experience. I experienced, in all of my Being, that someday I was going to die, and it wouldn't be like it had been happening, almost dying but somehow staying alive, but I would just die! And two things would happen right before I died: I would regret my entire life; I would want to live it over again. This terrified me. The thought that I would live my entire life, look at it and realize I blew it forced me to do something with my life.

With no formal training, Selby used a raw language to portray the bleak and violent world that was part of his youth. He said, "I write, in part, by ear. I hear, as well as feel and see, what I am writing. I have always been enamoured with the music of the speech in New York." Little concerned with proper grammar, punctuation, or diction, Selby used unorthodox techniques in most of his works. He indented his paragraphs with alternating lengths, often by simply dropping down one line when finished with a paragraph. Like

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian ...

in his "spontaneous prose", Selby often completed his writing in a fast, stream-of-consciousness style. He replaced apostrophes with forward slashes, which were closer on the typewriter, to avoid interrupting his flow of writing.

Early works

Selby started working on his first short story, "The Queen Is Dead," in 1958. At the time, he had a succession of day jobs, but he wrote every night. During the day, he worked as a secretary, a gas station attendant, and a freelance copywriter. The short story developed slowly for the next six years before he published it. In 1961, his short story "Tralala" was published in the literary journal ''The Provincetown Review''. It also appeared in ''Black Mountain Review'' and ''New Directions''. It portrays the seedy life (ridden with violence, theft and mediocre con-artistry) and the gang rape of a

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

. The journal editor was arrested for selling

pornographic Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

to a minor. The journal was used as evidence in an

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin , , "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Generally, the term can be used to indicate strong moral ...

trial, but the case was later dismissed on appeal. On 24 October 1964, Selby married Judith Lumino, but the marriage soon fell apart. As he continued to write, his longtime friend LeRoi Jones (later

Amiri Baraka Amiri Baraka (born Everett Leroy Jones; October 7, 1934 – January 9, 2014), previously known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka, was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism. He was the author of numerous b ...

), the poet and playwright, encouraged him to contact Sterling Lord, then Kerouac's agent. Selby combined "Tralala", "The Queen Is Dead" and four other loosely linked short stories as part of his first novel, ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' (1964). The novel was accepted and published by

Grove Press Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United S ...

, which had already published works by William S. Burroughs. In November 1964,

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

literary critic Eliot Fremont-Smith described the novel as "a brutal book," concluding that it "is not a book one 'recommends'--except perhaps to writers. From them, those who wish to read it, it deserves attention." The novel was praised by many, including the poet

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

, who predicted that it would "explode like a rusty hellish bombshell over America and still be eagerly read in a hundred years." In 1967, the novel was prosecuted for obscenity in the United Kingdom. The British writer

was among a number of writers who appeared as witnesses in its defense. The jury's conviction was later reversed on

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

. The novel was banned in Italy. Although he wrote all his work while sober, Selby continued to battle drug addiction. In 1967 he was arrested for heroin possession and served two months in the Los Angeles County jail. After his release, he moved from New York to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to try to escape his addictions and finally kicked the habit. He stayed clean of illicit drugs but continued to battle alcohol abuse for the next two years. Also that year, Selby met his future wife, Suzanne Victoria Shaw, at a bar in

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

. The couple moved in together two days after they met. They married in 1969, after Selby and his second wife, Judith, had finalized their divorce. For the next decade, Suzanne and Selby traveled back and forth between their home in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

and the East Coast, settling permanently in the Los Angeles area in 1983. They had two children, daughter Rachel and son William.

Life after ''Last Exit to Brooklyn''

In 1971, Selby published his second novel, ''

The Room ''The Room'' is a 2003 American independent romantic drama film written, directed, and produced by Tommy Wiseau, who also stars in the film alongside Juliette Danielle and Greg Sestero. Set in San Francisco, the film is centered around a ...

,'' which received positive reviews. It featured a

criminally insane The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to a psychiatric disease at the time of the criminal act ...

man, locked in a room in a prison, who reminisces about his disturbing past. Selby described ''The Room'' as "the most disturbing book ever written." Selby continued to write

short fiction A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

, as well as

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

s and

teleplay A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or a ...

s at his apartment in

. His work was published in many magazines, including '' Black Mountain Review'', '' Evergreen Review'', ''Provincetown Review'', ''Kulchur'', '' New Directions Annual'', ''Yugen'', ''Swank'' and ''Open City''. In the 1980s, Selby met

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

singer

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, comedian, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1 ...

, who had long admired the writer's works and publicly championed them. Rollins helped broaden Selby's readership, and also arranged recording sessions and reading tours for Selby. Rollins issued original recordings through his own 2.13.61 publications, and distributed Selby's other works. For the last 20 years of his life, Selby also taught

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

as an adjunct professor in the Master of Professional Writing program at the

. A film adaptation of ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'', directed by

Uli Edel Ulrich "Uli" Edel (; born 11 April 1947) is a German film and television director, best known for his work on films such as ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'', '' Body of Evidence'' and '' The Baader Meinhof Complex.'' His '' Rasputin: Dark Servant of ...

, was made in 1989. Selby appeared in ''Brooklyn'' in a brief cameo as a taxi driver. '' Requiem for a Dream'' (1978) was adapted as a film of the same name released in 2000. He had a small role as a prison guard who taunts

Marlon Wayans Marlon Lamont Wayans (born July 23, 1972) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for his work with his brother Shawn Wayans on The WB sitcom ''The Wayans Bros.'' (1995–1999) and the comedy films ''Don't Be a M ...

’s character, who is forced to perform hard labor while going through heroin withdrawal.

Death and legacy

Selby spent the last month of his life in and out of the hospital and died at his home in Highland Park,

, on April 26, 2004, of

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by chronic respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. GOLD defines COPD as a heterogeneous lung condition characterized by chronic respiratory s ...

. Although he was in pain, he refused

morphine Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...

on his deathbed. ''The New York Times'' published his obituary the day after his death. In 1999, a French movie director Ludovic Cantais made a documentary about Hubert Selby Jr, "Hubert Selby Jr, a couple of things" broadcast on many European channels. Selby was the subject of the 2005 documentary, '' Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow''

In popular culture

* In 1972,

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

said that two novels influenced him greatly:

's ''

On the Road ''On the Road'' is a 1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagoni ...

'' and Selby's ''Last Exit to Brooklyn''. According to an article in the ''

'' published in 1973, Bowie had "confessed that he had formed a desperate identification with" the latter novel. * Selby's first work, "The Queen Is Dead" (appearing as a chapter in ''Last Exit to Brooklyn''), inspired the name of an album by

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

alternative rock group

The Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

. * In the book ''Was This Man a Genius?'' by Julie Hecht, the comedian

Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. He has sometimes been called an "anti-humor, anti-comedian". He disdained telling jokes and engaging in comedy as it was tra ...

is quoted saying that his favourite book is ''The Demon'' by Hubert Selby (p. 159). * ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' inspired the name of Sting's first band, Last Exit. * The

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Wales, Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. The band consists of Nicky Wire (bass guitar, lyrics) and cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, le ...

song, "Of Walking Abortion", from the album '' The Holy Bible'', begins with a quote from Selby: "I knew that someday I was gonna die. And I knew that before I died, two things would happen to me, that number one: I would regret my entire life; and number two: I would want to live my life over again." *British band

Alt-J Alt-J (stylised as alt-J, real name Δ) are an English indie rock band formed in 2007 in Leeds. Their lineup includes Joe Newman (guitar/lead vocals), Thom Sonny Green (drums), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboards/vocals), and formerly Gwil Sainsbury ...

composed a song entitled "Fitzpleasure", inspired by the short story "Tralala" from ''Last Exit to Brooklyn''. * In the Nicolas Winding Refn film '' Bleeder'', a character enters a book store asking for a Hubert Selby Jr. work. * Nicolas Winding Refn dedicated his film '' Pusher II'' to Selby, Jr. * The block of East 10th Street between Second and Third Avenues in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

(where Selby lived in 1964 with his second wife, Judith, and her son, James) is mentioned in Chapter 23 of

Tom Robbins Thomas Eugene Robbins (July 22, 1932 – February 9, 2025) was an American novelist. His most notable works are "seriocomedies" (also known as "comedy dramas"). Robbins had lived in La Conner, Washington, since 1970, where he wrote nine of his ...

's 1976 novel, ''Even Cowgirls Get the Blues'', being described specifically as the place where "Hubert Selby, Jr., wrote ''Last Exit to Brooklyn''."

Works

Fiction

* ''

'' (novel, 1964) * ''

'' (novel, 1971) * '' The Demon'' (novel, 1976) * '' Requiem for a Dream'' (novel, 1978) * '' Song of the Silent Snow'' (short stories, 1986) * '' The Willow Tree'' (novel, 1998) * ''

Waiting Period A waiting period is the period of time between when an action is requested or mandated and when it occurs. In the United States, the term is commonly used in reference to gun control, abortion and marriage licences, as some U.S. states require ...

'' (novel, 2002)

Spoken word

* '' Our Fathers Who Aren't in Heaven'' – Compilation by

. 2xCD set (1990) * '' Live in Europe 1989'' –

Spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...

with

. CD. (1995) * '' Blue Eyes and Exit Wounds'' – Spoken word with

Nick Tosches Nicholas P. Tosches (; October 23, 1949 – October 20, 2019) was an American journalist, novelist, biographer, and poet. His 1982 biography of Jerry Lee Lewis, ''Hellfire (Nick Tosches book), Hellfire'', was praised by ''Rolling Stone'' magazi ...

. CD. (1998)

Filmography

* '' Jour et Nuit'' – Screenwriter. France /

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

(1986) * ''

'' – Writer and actor. United States/Germany (1989) * ''Scotch and Milk'' – Actor (Cubby). United States (1998) * '' Requiem for a Dream'' – Screenwriter and actor. United States (2000) * '' Fear X'' – Screenwriter.

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

/ United Kingdom / Canada (2003)

Documentaries

* ''Memories, Dreams & Addictions.'' Interview with

Ellen Burstyn Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complex women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Emmy A ...

. Special feature on ''Requiem for a Dream'' – Director's Cut DVD release. (2001) * ''Hubert Selby Jr.: 2 Ou 3 Choses...'' (A Couple of Things About Hubert Selby Jr.) by Ludovic Cantais, France (2000) * '' Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow'' (2005)

Unfinished and unpublished

At least one work-in-progress remained unfinished and unpublished at the time of Selby's death: ''The Seeds of Pain and the Seeds of Love''. Excerpts from this work are heard on the ''Live in Europe 1989'' CD.

References

External links

*
"Interview with Hubert Selby Jr."

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, April 28, 2004, originally broadcast on May 4, 1990.
Alan Kaufman, "Review of Hubert Selby Jr.'s last novel"
''San Francisco Chronicle''.
''Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow''
(2005) Documentary on Hubert Selby Jr.
Interview: Hubert Selby Jr.
''Spike Magazine''
Los Angeles Art+Books - Dark Angel - page 1 - LA Weekly
'' L.A. Weekly'', May 6, 2004
www.exitwounds.com Exit Wounds
Official website of Hubert Selby Jr. and Nick Tosches.
Encyclopædia Britannica "Selby, Hubert Jr."

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

Hubert Selby Jr. Biography
Cinema.com
Hubert Selby Jr., "Why I Continue To Write. Thirty-five years after ''Last Exit to Brooklyn''"
''LA Weekly'', February 26 - March 4, 1999.
Divorce Decree July 18, 1969
Copia Certificada De Sentencia De Divorcio, Acta No. 337156 {{DEFAULTSORT:Selby, Hubert Jr. 1928 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers American male novelists American male screenwriters American male short story writers American sailors Military personnel from New York City Military personnel from New York (state) Novelists from New York (state) People from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn American postmodern writers Screenwriters from California Screenwriters from New York (state) Stuyvesant High School alumni United States Merchant Mariners Deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease