Hubert Selby Jr. (1419 hits)
Category: NewsRating: 1.6 on 39 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Loren (View user info) at 2004-04-28 11:42:00 EDT
My eldest brother and sister have lost their biological father, my mother's first husband.
Hubert Selby Jr., - nicknamed Cubby, most recently reknowned for the novel/movie, "Requiem for a Dream" passed away quietly on Monday after slipping into a coma that lasted only a few days. My brother was among those at his side.
This man led an amazing life - his stories of survival are fascinating. I think everyone would really enjoy reading a bit about him, so following is the latest, with links to some great articles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_Selby
Hubert Selby Jr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Hubert Selby, Jr. (July 23, 1928 - April 26, 2004) was an American author.
Born in Brooklyn, Selby dropped out of school at age 15 and joined the Merchant Marine. Physically disabled by tuberculosis, he lost a lung at the age of 18 and was sent home to die. For the next decade, Selby remained bed-ridden and frequently hospitalized with a variety of lung related ailments. Unable to make a living due to health concerns, Selby decided, "I know the alphabet. Maybe I could be a writer." His decision produced some of the most powerful literature written by a U.S. author in the twentieth century.
After the publication of Last Exit to Brooklyn in 1964, Selby became addicted to heroin, a problem that eventually landed him in prison. After his release from prison, he moved to Los Angeles and kicked his habit.
Selby was married three times and had four children. In recent years, both Last Exit to Brooklyn and Requiem for a Dream have been adapted to film.
Still living in Los Angeles, he died on April 26, 2004 of chronic lung disease.
Works
* Last Exit to Brooklyn (1964)
* The Room (1971)
* The Demon (1976)
* Requiem for a Dream (1978)
* Song of the Silent Snow (1986)
* The Willow Tree (1998)
* Waiting Period (2002)
External link
*Obituary of Hubert Selby, Jr. (AP)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/04/26/obituary2246EDT0169.DTL
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hubert Selby Jr., author of 'Last Exit to Brooklyn,' dead at 75
RYAN PEARSON, Associated Press Writer Monday, April 26, 2004
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(04-26) 21:22 PDT LOS ANGELES (AP) --
Hubert Selby Jr., the acclaimed and anguished author of "Last Exit to Brooklyn" and "Requiem for a Dream," died Monday of a lung disease, his wife said. He was 75.
Selby died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at his home in the Highland Park section of Los Angeles, said his wife of 35 years, Suzanne Selby.
Born in New York City, Selby's experience among Brooklyn's gritty longshoremen, homeless and the down-and-out formed the basis for his lauded 1964 novel "Last Exit to Brooklyn," which was made into a film in 1989.
"It was a seminal piece of work. It broke so many traditions," said Jim Regan, head of the master's of professional writing program at the University of Southern California, where Selby taught as an adjunct professor for the past 20 years.
"There was that generation of writers: William Burroughs, Henry Miller, and there was Hubert Selby. And he's one of the last of that generation, of some of the greatest writers in this country."
Writer Gilbert Sorrentino, who grew up with Selby in Brooklyn, said Selby's writing was distinguished by its highly stylized "language of the street."
"He had the extraordinary capability of using language that is not normally thought of as a literary language, to make literature out of it," said Sorrentino, to whom Selby dedicated "Last Exit."
He said Selby's first novel was so acclaimed by critics because "it's the first time that anybody really investigated what happens to poor people in cities," Sorrentino said.
"Before that, there were some marvelous things written about poor people, but they mostly were ... obviously social protest novels" with sentimental themes and romanticized central characters.
Suzanne Selby, 58, said her late husband was kind and generous but in recent years suffered from depression and would launch into rages at times.
"He screamed, he yelled, he broke things," she said. "But he did not have rages when he was writing."
Selby shared screenwriting credit on the 2000 film version of his 1978 novel "Requiem for a Dream," a harrowing look inside a family's many addictions. His other novels include "The Room" (1971), "The Demon" (1976), "The Willow Tree" (1998) and a 1986 collection of short stories "Song of the Silent Snow."
Selby continued to work on screenplays and teach at USC until he was hospitalized last month. He had been in and out of the hospital in the past few weeks and died with his wife by his side, she said.
He contracted tuberculosis as a teenager while in the Merchant Marines and was treated by doctors who removed 11 ribs and a lung, his wife and Sorrentino said. He had since suffered from breathing problems, and was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease several years ago.
Selby met his future wife at a bar in West Hollywood in 1967. The two moved in together two days later and married two years later. They split time between the East Coast and Southern California before moving permanently to the Los Angeles area in 1983.
Selby often wrote at an apartment he kept in West Hollywood. He worked in a bedroom there for at least five hours most days, and always left one line partially unfinished at night to have a place to start the next morning, Suzanne Selby said.
She said that he had battled addictions, but while much of his work dealt with the topic, he always wrote while sober and had not had any alcohol or any drugs since 1969.
He is survived by four children, Kyle Mack of New York; Claudia Selby of Kentucky; and Rachel Selby and William Selby, both of Southern California; and 11 grandchildren.
Memorial services were pending.
http://exitwounds.com/Hubert-Selby-Jr-2.htm
User Reviews
Submitted by mystiamoon (user info) at 2004-05-20 00:46:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Sicgrrl (user info) at 2004-05-15 15:28:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Dear SexGod,
Submitted by Loren1 (user info) at 2003-09-09 09:59:39 (#)
"I just hate it when people are:
Condescending
Presumptuous
Arrogant
Judgmental
Thoughtless
Insensitive
Authoritarian
Thickheaded
Despotic
Who in the world wants to be told how they should feel or when they should "GET OVER IT?"
Who likes to be told to "GET OVER IT" ??? I doubt anyone does. I've killed for less.
It absolutely amazes me - the pure and utterly emense amount of arrogance it must take to put limits and time-frames other people's emotions. THAT'S what dissapoints me about some of these reviews. I thought I was dealing with a better group of people. Wrong again."
-----------------------------------------------------
Your words, yet they don't apply to you?
Bitch, I haven't been to AA since I was 24.
You don't now how I fucking feel, unless I tell you. Cunt.
I am sad to discover that you are a New Yorker. We love NY.
Yet you truly are a fucking bitch and an office whore with a hugh gob.
A couple of hours ago I saw a photo of you and, posted what a babe you are.
Beauty and beast - eh?
Proves what a hopeless heterosexual I am.
And now - my 33 year old Jewish New Yorker I have nothing but a desire to *** **** ******* **** *** *** ********* **** ****.
Why?
"I have never said this seriously to anyone before on this site, but I am sure you need professional mental help.
And the sooner the better."
and
Submitted by Loren1 (user info) at 2004-05-14 11:37:24 (#)
Ranking: -2
This freak needs to see a psychiatrist.
---------------------------------------------------
On top of all this I just quit smoking.
Which I did earlier this morning as I wrote Enduro to help me stop.
At that point I felt fine, read your interpretation of me, fine, ok, youknowsit.
but now......as the hours pass - I want to kill somebody.
My blood is on fire.
And I want to kill you.
Not out of insanity.
I'm not fucking crazy.
No more than the next person.
But I am in the mental zone to kill another human, due to the lack of nicotine in my blood and your words in my head.
Quitting smoking is the bitch that you are.
After I quit smoking I found out my sister had done the same yesterday.
Thanks to that and my hate for you I think that I'll stay off the cancer sticks for good.
So thank you bitch.
Grrr.
I really do want to fuck you, and screw all this fucking frustratrion outa my body and into yours in a one night stand. Now that what I call therapy! Youknowsit!
God damn it Loren. Now I'm feeling happy. Fucking mood-swings.
x
I'd still slap you though.
x
+2 for making me hard.
Submitted by Socially_Distorted (user info) at 2004-05-15 03:56:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
i cant say i have ever read any of his books, or even heard of him.
you all mentioned his books were disturbing? i'll have to look out for them, i love stuff like that..
most of my family is doing life in prison. trade?
Submitted by Sicgrrl (user info) at 2004-05-15 03:20:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
youknowsit.
Submitted by Loren1 (user info) at 2004-05-14 15:22:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Oh we're so filled with angst, aren't we liam.... Let me write you some dialog that I feel would fit you...
"Look at me everyone... I'M CRAAAAAAAAAZY! But I'm NOT, but maybe I am, my mom thinks I am, but she doesn't understand me... nobody does... I am just too deep in my dark and profound thoughts, but I know even though I am lost in them now, one day I will spill forth words of such thought-provoking beauty as to make a mark on the world as the 8th great wonder!
I will surely be recognized one day for my unique and undeniable genius... but how can these fools recognize my genius???
"They're all fools who would judge!"
"Yet even as I realize my greatness - in my heightened realm of thought and conscience - I remain humble and accepting of others because I have faith in my own spiritual righteousness and it's THAT spirit that tells me to accept those below me!
"So I live... quietly masked intertwining yet apart but among and with, all the rest of you shallow, herd-driven no-talent, unthinking, unconscious fools! I pity you, but I will not allow myself to feel contempt toward you! I'm above that!"
"Now please excuse me, I have to get dressed all in black and go to my AA meeting so I can trap a few random strangers and ramble on and on about my favorite subject - ME!"
Sincerely,
Liam Dunlop aka: sicgrrl
-----------------
That was fun.
Submitted by Sicgrrl (user info) at 2004-05-14 12:59:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Fair game Loren,
I should say I do need help.
And that you have years of experience to the point that, when I do reach your age I'll still be years behind. But I can learn from this instead of fester under my little rock. You do dish it out pretty honestly and for that moment I felt hurt. I've got nothing to hide and you know what, you're not the only one who thinks I need treatment. My mother thinks I'm out of wack. The whole fucking world does. But I'm just me. Young dumb and full of himself, but only concerning my creative spirit. Confidence towards everything else is pretty much a zero. I quit drinking three months ago and have yet to join the real world other than the one in my confused little head. Fragile? Now and again.
(I smoke too, and have also like you set my hair on fire.)
As we both said -
"Are you out of your fucking mind? I've been "creating" as you put it, for longer than you've been alive you presumptuous bastard. I'd LOVE to see what you've contributed to the creative world. "
I really doubt that when I get to the level your throne resides upon high up in the sky above us mere maggots that I will resort to the kind of language you use to empower your self towards to the little people like me. Or anyone. As stupid as I am I have respect for those that make a ok effort instead of a complety pointless one such as fuck you etc..
Simple as that.
Even Rollins, Lunch or I don't know, pick some spoken word artist you respect and do you think they spend time on the Internet acting up. Of course they don't. Their professionals. And yes I know they say fuck a lot, but only in books and live performance's or to someone's face.
The way we've responded to each other proves - that we do believe in ourselves and fuck Loren what's wrong with being fucked up and silly.
As for what this 26 yr old does -
I make music+videos, applying to get my ass back into education to study Sound Design at London College of Printing and film-making has and always will be my number one passion. I'm more than happy to send you a video (Pal) for you to laugh at. We love laughter.
I'm allowed to grow up first no?
I would love for you to see what I'm capable of, through the years as I mature.
Ego. Yes.
Vanity. In check.
You ain't seen nothing yet.
But it is going to take me several years before I can live up to that statement.
I'd still slap you though.
Can you really blame me.
Submitted by Loren1 (user info) at 2004-05-14 11:32:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
scgrrl -
"You are a child. Grow up Loren. Until you write, create or etc.. you are just another..... I'm sorry, but in the real world I would slap you."
Are you out of your fucking mind? I've been "creating" as you put it, for longer than you've been alive you presumptuous bastard. I'd LOVE to see what you've contributed to the creative world.
I have never said this seriously to anyone before on this site, but I am sure you need professional mental help.
And the sooner the better.
BTW, Hubert Selby Jr., if you had actually read what I posted, was not 'related' to me. He was related to my half brother and sister. It sounds like you're being a child here due to your fantasies (childish visions of grandeur) about meeting him being dashed, and in knowing that I have had that opportunity. It's called immature jealousy, and it's incredibly sad that you felt you needed to display it on this thread.
Huge fan you are that you didn't even know a "father figure" of yours had passed away.
Grow up. Get help. Get over yourself.
Submitted by Sicgrrl (user info) at 2004-05-13 14:47:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Dear Loren,
I was hoping to meet Cubby one day, for he was a hugh inspiration to me since I was a teenager reading The Room here in London. As I posted before about what I wanted to do with my life I dreamed that he would be a part of it for a film version of The Demon or at least, to have met him once. He was a survivor and a living legend. The dude had my respect and love. People like him help us to creatively grow and blossom without censoring ourselves from what needs to be said. And I'm not talking about you sending people hate mail simply because they spelt a fucking word wrong on the internet. You are a child. Grow up Loren. Until you write, create or etc.. you are just another..... I'm sorry, but in the real world I would slap you. Creating something positive is hard, being a child is easy. Cubby was the man and you are nothing but a little girl being mean to others. Remember Loren, it pays off to play well. That's a bit harsh, so again sorry, I'm sure we're the nicest people on the planet in person, but here we're fucking demons. The irony is, if you hadn't of posted what a fucking idiot I am for my sins of illiteracy, I would have never of found out about one of my beloved authors had died (and been related to you). I don't know how you feel but his death to me is one of deep regret that I did not make the effort sooner to meet him.
I'm 26. I can't spell. I'm single and lonely. I am a fucking idiot (tis true).
But today................I am just a little boy who's lost one of his fathers.
'One day I had an extraordinarily profound experience, one more 'real' than any I had ever had. I experienced the fact that some day I was going to die, not as had been happening, and managing to survive, but I was really going to die, and just before I died two things would happen: One, I would regret my entire life: Two, I would want to live my life over again, and then I would die. This experience terrified me. The thought that I would live whatever number of years and look back on it and see I hadn't done anything with my life, had wasted it, was something I just could not live with. So I decided to write. In the process of trying to do something with my life before I died, I have abandoned myself to my art. This has filled my life with a purpose I could not have imagined. The process has been extremely painful, but such is the nature of life. I have given up everything to be a writer, but it has been worth it. Today I have a sense of dignity and integrity that I cherish, and I can look back on my life, without any regrets, and say, 'my life is full and rich and I know I have accomplished much with it. If I die today I know, thanks to my friends, I have experienced, in all my being, the fulfillment of the vision in my heart.'
Hubert Selby, Jr.
June 1994
Love Liam Dunlop.
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2004-05-07 23:25:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Loren1 (user info) at 2004-05-06 13:42:30 (#)
Ranking: 2
BigMike, if you weren't married... I swear....
I'd make you my future ex-husband.
+2 for you, even though it doesn't count on this post for me.
I just love it when Loren talks like this.
Submitted by posthumouslaughter (user info) at 2004-05-07 16:01:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
A great author, he will be missed.
Submitted by TripinDayZ420 (user info) at 2004-05-07 15:46:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
sorry to read about your loss. i know the movie requiem and it was so well done that i was actually shaking physically and kinda weirded out for about 3 days after i watched that film. amazing work. he will be missed.
Submitted by Loren1 (user info) at 2004-05-07 15:23:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Orange-San, you illiterate little prick, go read this:
http://www.ubersite.com/m/6747
It might help you understand why you're such an asshole.
Don't worry, you still have a chance to make a turn-around once your brain fully develops.
Submitted by Orange-San (user info) at 2004-05-07 10:22:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
I HAVE AN OREN FETISH ROFL ROFL ROFL LMAO LMAO LMAO I PWNZZZZ
THIS POST SUXXXORS
http://www.ubersite.com/m/32430
THIS POST RULLEZORS
Submitted by Allyson (user info) at 2004-05-06 14:26:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
every single one.
every- implying more then one
single- umm.. duh. single.
one- hmm. one maybe?
I know what you are getting at. im not being a jackass although.
Thanks.
Submitted by Loren1 (user info) at 2004-05-06 13:42:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
BigMike, if you weren't married... I swear....
I'd make you my future ex-husband.
+2 for you, even though it doesn't count on this post for me.
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2004-05-06 13:37:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm a little late here.....but oh well.
Death happens and we can only hope to live through it. My best to your family and friends Loren. I am sorry for your loss.
Submitted by Trout (user info) at 2004-04-28 15:24:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Last Exit to Brooklyn was a fine piece of literature.
Submitted by Judoka (user info) at 2004-04-28 14:51:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
My condolences Loren.
Requiem for a Dream was a scary, scary movie. The soundtrack was sublime.
Submitted by WillZone (user info) at 2004-04-28 14:45:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
sorry loren for your loss.
he was a brilliant author. last exit and requiem were both amazing books.
I'll gloat another day about me passing you on the MVA list. :)
Submitted by Phinch (user info) at 2004-04-28 14:44:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
sorry for your loss.
Submitted by Anjie (user info) at 2004-04-28 13:52:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Wow a sad day in History....
His book Requiem for a Dream made me go out and read other books like his... The movie just tripped me out. I am now on my 3rd Hunter S Thompson book because of Selby.
Submitted by volklcess (user info) at 2004-04-28 13:04:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Heh...small world. Hubert Selby Jr is one of my favorite authors. I'm sorry to hear that he died.
:-(
Phoenix
Submitted by reallybored (user info) at 2004-04-28 12:58:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Wow. What a fucking small world. Requim was the most distrubting movie i have ever seen. I will never watch it again, but i was glad i watched it.
Damn i need to get me a famous family member....
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2004-04-28 12:52:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm listening to this right now: http://freshair.npr.org/
Submitted by firefly (user info) at 2004-04-28 12:50:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Kristen (user info) at 2004-04-28 12:49:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Insanethemind (user info) at 2004-04-28 12:39:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Quite interesting, I wonder how he wrote 'requiem' anyway...
Submitted by dohnuts (user info) at 2004-04-28 12:17:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Hubert Selby, Jr.
Definitely one of the greats...
Submitted by hairycoo (user info) at 2004-04-28 12:16:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
wasnt he into underage girls ?
i remember wanking to last exit to brooklyn as a 13 year old
Submitted by Loren1 (user info) at 2004-04-28 12:10:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
WilliamQ, yes we met. Only twice as he lived in California. His mother was kinda my surrogate Grandma though, and spent all of her life in Brooklyn.
When Grandma Selby passed away about 2 years ago I got a chance to meet Cubby, and I also met him 17 years ago at my sister Claudia's wedding.
I really didn't know him well enough to be too affected by this. My mom is pretty upset - ya know - the whole regret thing, digging up memories best not dug up. Beating one's self up is inherent in my family. My brother and sister are really upset. My brother's wife just lost her father a few months ago on top of everything.
Ah well, it is what it is. It's amazing he lived as long as he did with the crazy shit he did, all with only ONE lung!
I always found that incredible.
Submitted by William_Q_Percy (user info) at 2004-04-28 12:03:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Selby is one of my fave American authors, I am sorry to hear he's passed.
Did you ever meet him?
Submitted by K.M (user info) at 2004-04-28 12:01:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Envenom (user info) at 2004-04-28 11:57:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
My condolences. "Requiem for a Dream" was an awesome (although deeply disturbing) movie. I've often said that they should show that movie in school to discourage kids from doing drugs. It sure as hell made me not want to to drugs ever again. (If only for a day or so)
Submitted by lowsodiummonkey (user info) at 2004-04-28 11:56:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Love ya Hubie.
Submitted by funk_boy (user info) at 2004-04-28 11:53:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
The Room.
The sickest most twisted book EVER.
Submitted by NotApologizing (user info) at 2004-04-28 11:50:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
sorry for your family's loss.
Submitted by Ainkara (user info) at 2004-04-28 11:47:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by polyamorousaj (user info) at 2004-04-28 11:44:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by youarsoghey (user info) at 2004-04-28 11:43:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Sorry to hear this.