Hubert Selby Jr. was a poet of raw reality, drawing from the dark corners of the human psyche and societal fringes. His style, characterized by sharp language and unflinching realism, reveals the despair and struggle for survival of characters ensnared by addiction, violence, and existential suffering. Selby's work, often overlooked by the mainstream, explores the limits of human resilience and the search for meaning amidst absolute hopelessness.
In this searing novel first published in 1978, two young hoods, Harry and Tyrone, and a girlfriend fantasize about scoring a pound of heroin and getting rich. But their heroin habit gets the better of them, and Harry's mother's addiction to diet pills lands her in a state mental hospital.