Regular marked price: $14.95Discount Price: $10.92
Cost Savings: $4.03 (27%)Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: unknown
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780714530383
ISBN number: 0714530387
Label: Marion Boyars Publishing houses Ltd
Manufacturer: Marion Boyars Publishing houses Ltd
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 288
Printing Date: April 01, 2001
Publishing house: Marion Boyars Publishing houses Ltd
Sale Popularity Level: 294688
Studio: Marion Boyars Publishing houses Ltd
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Secluded in his remand cell, a small-time petty criminal surrenders himself to the sadistic fantasies of hatred, rage and the powerless lust for revenge that are trapped inside him. Selby's second novel, the sequel to Last Exit To Brooklyn, is a claustrophobic descent into a man locked away in a loveless society.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
After reading about this book, I decided to pick it up. I was a little wary, as most of the reviews on amazon were from people who sounded like they got off on violence for the sake of violence. Way too many "oh man, this is so sick and twisted! People with weak stomachs should stay away! People who like to be disturbed will love this!" for my taste.
However, I had two reasons for taking a chance with this book:
1.) Hubert Selby is a pretty decent author. The work may not be as relevant or ground-breaking as he was when he was originally writing, but I'd enjoyed "Last Exit to Brooklyn" and "Requiem for a Dream."
2.) Brutal violence, when used well, can play an important and direct role in a powerful book. For example, Cormac McCarthy, Chuck Palahniuk, Bret Easton Ellis, James Ellroy and some of Selby's other works.
Unfortunately, it serves no such purpose here. I knew exactly what this book was going to be about and what was trying to be said after reading for about 20 minutes. I kept hoping something would be presented in the rest of the book that was not presented in the beginning. Instead, I read pointless fantasy after pointless fantasy. If you want to save yourself the trouble of buying and reading this book, just read the other reviews. The message is not deep, new, or even that interesting. (Short version: A guy's in prison. He thinks he's being screwed over. He really doesn't like the police who arrested him. He has "shocking" fantasies about proving everyone wrong and taking violent revenge on those he perceives as wronging him. zzzzzzzzzzz)
That's it. Unless you are like some of the other reviewers and just want to read "sick and twisted" stuff, save your time and money. And even if you are, I would guess that you could find free violence fantasies on the internet.
Rated by buyers -
I didn't want to inflict it upon anyone else by selling it to a used book store.
Rated by buyers 
-
As an author of sick & disturbing fiction myself ((see: *Hardcore Romeo*)), I am always on the look-out for work that can still upset me. Such novels are few and far between...but 'The Room' is one of them. Selby has, indeed, painted a gruesome portrait of a mind that has become its own hell. You'll find some of the most disturbing acts of sadistic violence this side of Sade himself among the episodes imagined by the imprisoned narrator, including a rape scene that goes on for pages and with such realism its truly painful to read. Other acts--even more unspeakable--have the power to make even the most seasoned reader of violent fiction wince.
One might wonder, 'What was Selby's point here?' One might be tempted to answer that he was simply trying to gross the reader out. Or even simply to write out the worst imaginable crimes.
But I think his motivation was far more disturbing than that.
For every fantasy of inhuman depravity in this novel, there is an equally (unrealistic) fantasy of idealistic humanitarianism. From the grandiose to the bestial...the truly 'scary' thing about this narrator, this book, what Selby is telling us is that BOTH lines of fantasy are coming from the same mind. And that trapped mind is not too different, really, from our own, if we follow our alternating drives for revenge and forgivness, love and hate, etc to their logical extremity.
The narrator in 'The Room' isnt a monster. And that is what is most terrifying of all.
Rated by buyers 
-
and when I read the reviewers below proudly saying nonsense like
"this is selby's worst book - True"
it cracks me up. This is probably his most difficult book , because there is only one character and it all takes place in his prison cell and his mind (the 'other' cell in the book) but honestly, this book is probably one of the most important works by an American writer, one of the only ones to touch the brilliance of post-war European literature. It is funny, brutal and a work which will haunt you for a long time. no Im not a kid, by the way, but amazon changed their rules and it's too much of a pain to sign in under the new system.
But I had to write this after reading a stream of negative reviews for this book, written by people who honestly dont seem to know what they are talking about. Literature is not meant to be safe or easy. Go buy a copy of VC Andrews if that's what youre looking for.
Rated by buyers -
The book definitely got it's point across, although several points in the middle seemed to be ridiculously drawn out for no apparent reason other than to serve as filler.
Find other books like this one:
