Why people recommend it
Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr. is a gritty, uncompromising novel composed of interconnected vignettes depicting the harsh lives of marginalized individuals in post-World War II Brooklyn. This controversial work was discussed by cultural commentators analyzing literary history and societal attitudes. On the How I Write Podcast, Neil Strauss referenced Hubert Selby's book to discuss unconventional punctuation and stylistic expression in writing, noting the author's distinct raw genre and the mechanical challenges of composing such intense prose. Separately, Michael Malice mentioned Hubert Selby's Last Exit to Brooklyn on Timcast IRL to illustrate how the political left historically championed marginalized groups and gave voice to society's outcasts during an era marked by heavy censorship and moral policing. Both speakers highlighted the book's stark realism and its enduring impact on literary boundaries. Through these discussions, Selby's novel is remembered as a powerful, transgressive piece of American fiction that fearlessly exposed the underbelly of urban life while pushing the formal limits of narrative structure and stylistic convention in twentieth-century literature.
Who recommended it
- Neil Strauss Discussed
- Michael Malice Discussed
Neil Strauss — 1 mention
“There's another writer named Hubert Selby, the same genre though, but who wrote Last Exit to Brooklyn, and his typewriter was broken.”
Michael Malice — 1 mention
“so there's a great book called by hubert selby called last exit to brooklyn it was heavily censored”