Hubert Selby Jr. and Punctuation

     Hubert Selby Jr. is a great writer. I have only read two books by him, but that was enough for me to deem him one of my favorite writers. He grew up in Brooklyn, dropped out of high school at 15 (which might have something to do with his utter disregard for grammar), joined the Merchant Marines, was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and struggled with a heroin addiction for most of his life.
     The first excerpt I will put here is from his first novel, Last Exit to Brooklyn, which was first published in 1964.

MARY STARED AT JOEYS HEAD WHEN VINNIE TOOK THE BOYS HAT OFF. SEE, NOW HE LOOKS LIKE A BOY. NOT LIKE SOME GODDAMN SISSY. MARY LOOKED AT JOEYS HEAD. YOU SONOFA-BITCH. LOOK WHAT YADID. WHATTA YAMEAN WHAT I DID. I DIDNT DO NOTHIN. I TOOKIM FOR A HAIRCUT. WHATSZAMATTA, YOU DONT LIKE THE HAIRCUT? YA SONOFABITCH, YA CUT ALL HIS HAIR OFF. ALL THE NICE CURLS HE HAD, YA CUTEM ALL OFF. HE LOOKS LIKE HES GOTTA BALDY. AW SHUT YAMOUT. YEAH? HE AINT GONNA TAKE NO MORE HAIRCUTS, joey went to his room. YA STAY AWAY FROM ME YA SONOFABITCH. YA TINK SO, EH? I/LL BREAK YA FUCKIN LEGS. GO AHEAD. GO AHEAD. I/LL KILLYA. MEEE, SHES REALLY ASKIN FORIT. YEAH? YOULL SEE. YOULL SEE. JUST TRY. I/LL CUTCH YAFUCKIN COCK OFF. WHOSE COCK YOULL CUT OFF, EH? WHOSE? YA CRAZY FUCK I/LL BREAK YA FUCKIN LEGS. VINNIE SHOOK HIS HAND IN MARYS FACE THEN TURNED AWAY AND SLAPPED HIS FOREHEAD, MARONE AME, WHATTA IDIOT, AND WENT OUT TO THE KITCHEN AND HEATED THE COFFEE. MARY WENT INTO THE KIDS ROOM AND PICKED JOEY UP, HOLDING HIM AT ARMS LENGTH FROM HER AND A LITTLE OVER HER HEAD, TURNING HIM TO LOOK AT ONE SIDE THEN THE OTHER.


     Now I don't think there's any need to delve into the use of capital letters here other than to mention that they are used only when an adult is speaking, or rather yelling. The periods are seemingly used randomly and there is no existence of a quotation mark or apostrophe. However, I seem to remember the reason for the latter in a documentary I saw a couple years ago. Selby said that at the time, on a manual typewriter, in order to use an apostrophe one had to shift and then type the key for "8". This disrupted the flow of his writing so he substituted it with the forward slash. Also in this documentary, he mentions how he uses words as if they were music, creating a certain rhythm. Here is a different interview where he says something similar: http://youtu.be/tMWBuaDvDNo?t=7m24s

     I have been looking for about an hour now on YouTube and Google for a clip or excerpt where he explains the punctuation, but I can't seem to find anything. I guess you will have to take my word for it unless you watch the documentary itself which is titled: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow.


     Alright, let's talk about Requiem for a Dream which was originally published in 1976. This was the first novel I ever read by Selby. I sought it out at the town library after falling in love with the film. It is a much more difficult read (believe it or not), at least at first. Since there are no quotation marks or line breaks everything seems to run together. I will admit that I had trouble at first, but eventually I got the hang of it. I grew to really love the punctuation (or lack of it) along with many other aspects of the book. Let's take a look at an excerpt from the opening scene of the novel.

Harry locked his mother in the closet. Harold. Please. Not again the TV. Okay, okay, Harry opened the door, then stop playin games with my head. He started walking across the room toward the television set. And dont bug me. He yanked the plug out of the socket and disconnected the rabbit ears. Sara went back into the closet and closed the door. Harry stared at the closet for a moment. So okay, stay. He started to push the set, on its stand, when it stopped with a jerk, the set almost falling. What the hells goin on here? He looked down and saw a bicycle chain going from a steel eye on the side of the set to the radiator. He stared at the closet. Whatta ya tryin to do, eh? Whats with this chain? You tryin to get me to break my own mothers set? or break the radiator?—she sat mutely on the closet floor—an maybe blow up the whole house? You tryin to make me a killer? Your own son? your own flesh and blood? WHATTA YA DOIN TA ME???? Harry was standing in front of the closet. YOUR OWN SON!!!! A thin key slowly peeked out from under the closet door. Harry worked it out with his fingernail then yanked it up. Why do you always gotta play games with my head for krists sake, always laying some heavy guilt shit on me? Dont you have any consideration for my feelings? Why do you haveta make my life so difficult? Why do—Harold, I wouldnt. The chain isnt for you. The robbers. Then why didnt you tell me? The set almost fell. I coulda had a heart attack. Sara was shaking her head in the darkness. 

      So, as you can see, it's difficult to discern who is speaking. However, I think just like in Last Exit to Brooklyn, it adds a certain speed to everything. I suppose this is the rhythm or "music" Selby was speaking of. This was the first thing I could think of when we were assigned this blog, and I'm sure you can see why.