Sarah's review
Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr.
Last Exit to Brooklyn is one of those infamous books that caused an uproar when it was first published and is now kept in print for its historical merits.
Curious about the book, I got a copy through BookCrossing about 2 years ago and I have finally gotten around to reading it. While it's classified as a novel, it's really more accurately six short stories tied together by location and characters. The stories are all written in free flowing dialect that ignores conventional spelling and grammar. Topics covered include: alcoholism, homosexuality, homophobia, transsexual identity, poverty, gang rape and life in the projects.
For all difficult subjects, coarse language and grammarless writing, the book is actually a quick read. It took me about twenty pages to fall into the rhythm of the stories. The stories compare most to the modern day blog rant. In fact, the similarities with the modern blog spoiled some of the book's charm for me and I began to wonder how well it would translat...more
Curious about the book, I got a copy through BookCrossing about 2 years ago and I have finally gotten around to reading it. While it's classified as a novel, it's really more accurately six short stories tied together by location and characters. The stories are all written in free flowing dialect that ignores conventional spelling and grammar. Topics covered include: alcoholism, homosexuality, homophobia, transsexual identity, poverty, gang rape and life in the projects.
For all difficult subjects, coarse language and grammarless writing, the book is actually a quick read. It took me about twenty pages to fall into the rhythm of the stories. The stories compare most to the modern day blog rant. In fact, the similarities with the modern blog spoiled some of the book's charm for me and I began to wonder how well it would translat...more
