The Tragedies and Triumphs of Hubert Selby Jr.

Sometimes you have to die a few times to live life just once. This is paraphrasing a modern American author who lived an extraordinary life and told it to you through what he knew best. His works aren't for the faint at heart. Their narratives twist and turn with the precision of a surgeon's knife cutting you open very gradually while still fully conscious. Inevitably, you will feel the characters' pain and joy in Brooklyn.

Selby's Brooklyn roots expose you to his everyday experiences and observations. They're immersed with gratuitous violence, drug addictions, spousal abuse, prostitution, and ashes and cinder from the shipyards, hovering on the city's edges with a constant filthy reminder. It was a toxic hell. During these times, including the 1950s, we typically coalesce around a white picket fence, stay at home mom, father who is home in time for dinner, and meticulously manicured landscapes. Utopia. Selby tells a different story.

Start with Harry Black. I know, I know. I'm sure one can have fun when seeing and hearing the name Harry Black. In Last Exit to Brooklyn, Harry is featured as one of the main characters. He works in a production plant, frustrated by the daily grind and toll. The company's management threaten him and his colleagues with laying them off. This is when Harry decides to take it upon himself to stand up to greed and corruption.

Harry works closely with his union's leaders, as he's assigned to work at an office nearby the plant. He rouses his workers that none of them will return to work, until the company meets their demands for fair wages and hours. At this point, the reader sympathizes with Harry's plight and can easily liken him. There's another side to Harry though.

Harry can't stand his nagging wife. She wants him to watch over their infant and sex with her at nights, but his energy is drained. The child constantly cries and shouts when Harry tends to him. His wife loses patience with his lack of attentiveness and intimacy. The frustration builds. At one point, he attacks her and knocks her to the floor. He leaves the tiny apartment and goes where he can find comfort and acceptance.

Negotiations continue to stall between the union and company leaders which is fine with Harry. He continues obsessing about his leadership role and influencing his colleagues to continue fighting company management. Behind this guise, Harry's indulgences for drugs and alcohol quickly turn to addictions. A few colleagues begin bringing kegs of beer into the office. They curse about their circumstances, while Harry takes pleasure believing his leadership will have a life-altering impact on his colleagues. His alcohol consumption increases with a declining impact. Instead of returning home to face his nagging wife, he decides to stay out late with a friend and transvestite who have plenty of bennies (form of methamphetamine).

Georgie, a gay man and transvestite, falls in love with Harry at first sight. Harry teases Georgie constantly, but this doesn't stop Georgie's attraction for him. One night, after taking several bennies, the two decide to fool around. Harry wants to see how Georgie will react after kissing him. After the kiss, he rubs his hands up and down Georgie's body. This consumes Georgie. All he can think about day and night are those few intimate moments with Harry.

Finally, Harry feels like he's in control. He continues handing out signs to colleagues each morning, spends the rest of the day drinking, and still spends his late nights taking copious amounts of bennies with Georgie and friends. Little does Harry realize how weak he really is.

Company management and union leaders finally reached a compromise. Harry desperately tries to convince his colleagues to keep fighting. Management will win. They don't listen and agree to return to work. This drives Harry mad.

All feels lost forever. Harry leaves the office, knowing it's the last time he can be heard. He sees a boy playing at a park across the street and decides to approach him. After a few minutes of incoherent rambling, the boy feels very uneasy. He tries to run away, but Harry grabs him. He eventually overpowers the boy. As the boy struggles, Harry tells him to take off his clothes. He rapes the boy. A couple men walk by and quickly rush to the boy's aid.

They separate Harry from the boy. One of the men grabs Harry, as the other begins kicking and punching him repeatedly. The men just won't stop. After several minutes, Harry is left lying motionless.

This summed up just one of several narratives Selby wrote. Upon publication and distribution, the book was legally challenged in England. After a lower court ruled in favor of an injunction based on violating England's obscenity's laws, the high court sided with Selby.

Yes, this wasn't easy to rehash either. You can merely pass this up as garbage or look at it as a spiritual journey. Some just don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. His works have a profound impact on my approach to writing. I think we can all ask ourselves how we handle life when all hope seems to be lost.

All of my rehashing are recollections of what I read. Anything written verbatim from "Last Exit to Brooklyn" is coincidental. For some reason, I can't copy and paste on here. Check out a YouTube video, "The Life and Times of Hubert Selby Jr." This was one of his last interviews.