Last Exit From Brooklyn

Hubert Selby Jr., author of Last Exit to Brooklyn, is now as dead and soulless as the incredibly shitty 1989 movie verson of his famous story collection. (The book also inspired a Beastie Boys' song which isn't very good either.)

The most memorable tale in the collection, "Tralala," was the subject of an obscenity trial after it was published by The Provincetown Review in 1961 (the whole collection was published by The Grove Press in '64).

In today's America, where Super Bowl half-time shows refuse to honor the country's founding and instead are nipplicious displays of "decadence and degradation," it's hard to conceive of things such as obscenity trials and censorship. Unless you make the mistake of saying bad words while on TV or radio. Or you produce porn. Or show pictures of flag-draped coffins.

Update: In deference to digamma's comment, let me amend my post thusly:

In today's America, where the film version of Selby's own Requiem for a Dream has created a cult around a charcter known as the "ass to ass guy" and draws high praise, t's hard to conceive of things such as obscenity trials and censorship. Unless you make the mistake of saying bad words while on TV or radio. Or you produce porn. Or show pictures of flag-draped coffins.