Last Exit to Brooklyn

"An extraordinary achievement . . . a vision of hell so stern it cannot be chuckled or raged aside."—The New York Times Book Review

The first novel to articulate the rage and pain of life in "the other America," Hubert Selby Jr.'s Last Exit to Brooklyn is a classic of postwar American writing. Selby's searing portrait of the powerless, the homeless, the dispossessed, is as fiercely and frighteningly apposite today as it was when it was first published more than fifty years ago. This explosive, transgressive best-seller created shock waves upon its release in 1964 with its raw, vibrant language and startling revelations of New York City's underbelly.

Few novels have caused as much debate as Selby's notorious masterpiece, which was even subject to an obscenity trial in the United Kingdom and banned in Italy due to its raw exploration of many societal taboos. The prostitutes, drunks, addicts, hoodlums, thieves, and johns of Selby's Brooklyn are fierce and lonely creatures, desperately searching for a moment of transcendence amidst the decay and brutality of the waterfront—though none have any real hope of escape. Last Exit to Brooklyn offers a disturbing yet hauntingly sensitive portrayal of American life, confronting the worst excesses of human nature, and nearly fifty years after publication, stands as a crucial and masterful work of modern fiction.

This audiobook is masterfully read by William DeMeritt, and was produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont. Audio engineering by Mike Thal.

©2011 Hubert Selby, Jr. (P)2025 Echo Point Books & Media, LLC

Shocking and Brilliant

Last Exit to Brooklyn is the real deal. It makes Kerouac seem like a naive tourist and Burroughs like a sissy faux intellectual. Selby is gleefully profane and fearlessly truthful. You can smell the desperate sex and senseless violence. As a narrator, William DeMeritt is a match made in Heaven for Selby. His voice conjures characters from every race, ethnic group, and sexual orientation populating a diverse lower-income Brooklyn in the late 50s or early 60s. Highly recommended — unless you are a prude.

Finally Selby on audio!

Great job overall with this audiobook. Hope they are able to do all of Selby's books on audio.

Incredible performance

Not easy listening, but Selby’s not exactly known for lighthearted chick lit. DeMeritt’s performance is so dynamic and varied it’s ridiculous. A feat of narration.