The demon

1976, hardcover edition, Playboy Press, Chicago, IL. 312 pages. Hubert Selby Jr had the misfortune to write an early novel that became a modern classic. Last Exit to Brooklyn became the kind of book that critics celebrated, was adopted by college lit classes, and remains in print today. Follow ups are always a problem, but here is one that shows the author's gifts. Our protagonist is a man obsessed by power, sex, and ambition. He has corporate success, a wife and children, and other men's wives. His obsessions turn to minor shoplifting, breaking and entering, and more serious acts of violence. Here is a novel that talks about the sickness in our society, a story you'll remember.