Hubert Selby Jr.

Most people have never heard of Hubert Selby Jr., and the fact that I have had to tell so many people about one author has always made me incredibly sad. Selby, known by his close friends as Cubby, is one writer who completely changed the landscape of fiction over 50 years ago, but his work is seldom taught in any curriculum; college, high school, or otherwise. When I do come across someone who also likes his work, it seems the same trends will hold true of what we both appreciate, and that is Cubby's honesty. The books always feel like real people, and they seem to take chunks out of your life while reading it.

I mentioned earlier how I had ditched school to read all of the Last Exit to Brooklyn. I'm not the only one who was transfixed by this story. In the introduction to Requiem for a Dream, Darren Aronofsky stated he read the book the week he was supposed to be studying for finals, and he ended up failing them because he wanted to finish the book. That's the passion that Selby fans have towards his work. His writing speaks to you in a rare fashion that can't be ignored, whether you enjoy it or not.

Hubert Selby Jr. was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York during the great depression, and his hard upbringing shone through in his writing. He wrote about survivors, and how hard it is exactly for one to survive when you aren't supposed to. I think this was because the deck was always stacked against Cubby. At 15, he faked his age to enlist in the Merchant Marines, and while at sea he contracted tuberculosis. He ended up losing a half of a lung, and was sent home and told to die. Determined not to have a wasted life, Selby started writing to pursue a career. He spent the rest of his life dedicated to that craft, and in the end, he published seven novels and three spoken word albums.

Selby's life story by itself is amazing. What the man produced on paper sticks out even more. While he only had a limited education due to leaving for service at such a young age, Selby still was able to piece together enough knowledge to get his prose written out. If he didn't know the word, it was spelled out phonetically. Due to not wanting to waste time while typing, he would use / marks to indicate apostrophes rather than spend the time to hit the shift key. Although it turns off most readers who write off Selby, it also shows people through a different lens. Cubby let the action carry the book and did not concern himself with the technicalities.

Selby, like many authors, unfortunately, lived the majority of his life in poverty. While in the hospital for his TB, he also developed a morphine dependency that followed him for years. Selby was able to kick the habit, even going so far as to refuse it on his deathbed, but he was able to revisit the theme of addiction with Requiem, which goes to show how much guts one would have to face a topic that hits so close to home, and not fall back into addiction.

I'm not sure why a heroin addict from New York was able to grab my attention with such force at a young age. I stopped questioning my tastes a long time ago, and Selby is one of those that I have come to accept as a deep love and appreciation for what he has done in my life. But there have been many people who I have given his books that hated it. I can see that side of the coin as well. It's hard to look at life when it seems so raw and meaningless. The majority of people who I know that read does so to escape, not think about more depressing shit, and Selby is the anti-feel good author. I don't suggest reading his work unless you like books like Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting, or American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis.

Hubert Selby Jr. isn't remembered by the masses. He has never written a New York Times Bestseller, and he isn't brought up too often when discussing American writers. But his writing is still amazing, and so emotional that it should be at the very least peaked at. He is such a polarizing figure in American literature, and his work has shaped the way I have looked at literature for the rest of my life.