Hubert Selby Jr’s critically acclaimed novel Last Exit to Brooklyn remains a classic among modern-day American writing. Still frighteningly relevant nearly fifty years after it was first published, Selby’s narrative looks deep inside the most primitive human emotions. Ruthless stories of violence, corruption, alcoholism and drug use in blue-collar Brooklyn set an unrelenting pace. Each account is an unrefined stream of consciousness that is unapologetic and in your face. If you were a fan of Selby’s Requiem for a Dream then put Last Exit to Brooklyn at the top of your ‘must read’ list for 2010.

—Anthony Smith, 15 January 2010