Hubert Selby, Jr. (July 23, 1928 – April 26, 2004) was a Brooklyn-born American author whose personal experiences with drug addiction and New York’s violent, impoverished communities fueled his two most acclaimed novels, Last Exit to Brooklyn and Requiem for a Dream, both of which were adapted into movies. Selby was often bedridden because of severe medical problems, and, after encouragement from friends, began writing with no formal training. He is known for his rapid-fire, stream-of-consciousness style, which eschews quotation marks, apostrophes, and paragraph breaks while faithfully capturing New York diction and speech.
Last updated August ’09.
Works Reviewed
Requiem for a Dream (1978) [K|E]