I've been hearing about Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby, Jr. since I was in college when it was reported to be the "dirtiest" book ever, surpassing Peyton Place and even Lady Chatterley's Lover. At the time I'd read Peyton Place and given a try to Lady Chatterley, which was so boring I quit—and at that moment probably decided Last Exit wasn't worth trying. I changed my mind when in the 1990s I saw a movie version that I liked. Sometime this last year I bought the book.
So? After all these years, was it worth digging up?
Sort of. The fact that it's still in print says something. Comparatively, I think Peyton Place has a better story, but Last Exit is probably more interesting than Lady Chatterley. I say that 'cause I did make it through Last Exit.
It is pretty raw and I wasn't crazy about Selby's style—long sentences, even longer paragraphs and not much dialogue, but I finally did get caught up in it. That, however, took a while because rather than the whole book being a story, it's short stories (maybe novellas) about individuals, some of whom do show up in more than one section. The story of a strike left me cold; that of a prostitute who's gang raped was far more gripping.
For a long time, I thought maybe Last Exit might join my very short list of movies that were better then the books they were based on, but I re-watched the film and have to admit that Selby's presentation of character left the film at the starting line. (That leaves To Kill a Mockingbird as the only title on the list.)
No specifics. I dog-eared a few pages but now, 4 days since I finished it, have no idea why I did.
One word oddity: have any of you ever run into "doggies" as a term for sailors? It's used throughout the book.
