Last Exit To Brooklyn

For another one of my honors books, I decided to read Last Exit To Brooklyn written by Hubert Selby Jr. This novel told the story of living in New York's infamous Greenwich Village in New York City during the 1950's. This was not my favorite novel, but it did have a lot of insight into life in the fifties. Last Exit to Brooklyn covered taboo subjects such as drugs, alcohol, homosexuality, beatings, and prostitution. The novel focused in on different peoples lives and their perspectives. The outlooks included an average persons view of the neighborhood, a transvestite (known then as a fairy), a man at a young friends wedding, a young female whore, and a man in everyday factory life. From these different perspectives I got a broad variety of insights and social norms. The most shocking perspectives were of the transvestite and the young whore. It was interesting to read through those characters thoughts since they both were away from the stereotypical day to day life during that time. I felt this novel gave me a deeper and more meaningful look into what New York City was like for a resident living at the "Last Exit To Brooklyn".