The Open Road Blog

Your favorite show was on television. You had to walk the dog. You read the Cliff's Notes (or the review in the New York Times) and got the gist. And somehow, you never managed to actually read the book.

But when someone asks you about Bestseller X or Classic Novel Y at a dinner party, you fumble your way through the conversation and nod knowingly, right?

We consider ourselves smart, moderately well read folks. We’ve all got books that we meant to read—but just haven't gotten around to yet. We’ve got the best of intentions, but somehow there are ...

Open Road Media is proud to present the second installment of our Critical Symposium on Hubert Selby, Jr. Yesterday we featured an essay by American literature scholar James R. Giles. Today author Rob Couteau examines the powerful role of violence in Selby’s work. As always, we invite you to join the discussion in the comments section below.

Rob Couteau is the author of the novel Doctor Pluss, the anthology Collected Couteau, the memoir Letters from Paris, and the poetry collection The Sleeping Mermaid. In 1985 he won the North American Essay Award, a competition open to North ...

Editor's note: Last year Open Road Media introduced The Critical Symposium, an online forum featuring insightful commentary about twentieth century literary masters. The first two symposiums offered exclusive critical essays on Stanley Elkin and Andre Dubus. Today we are pleased to announce the latest installment of this original series. Open Road’s first Critical Symposium of the New Year focuses on the life and work of novelist Hubert Selby, Jr., author of the cult classics Last Exit to Brooklyn and Requiem for a Dream. Selby is known for his unflinching portrayals of urban life and highly unconventional ...

“Last Exit to Brooklyn should explode like a rusty hellish bombshell over America and still be eagerly read in a hundred years.” —Allen Ginsberg

Open Road Integrated Media announces the release of four titles by author Hubert Selby, Jr., including his classics, Last Exit to Brooklyn and Requiem for a Dream, which were championed by authors such as William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, and later adapted into critically acclaimed films. Selby’s writing is noted for its gritty portrayal of addiction and urban despair in America, which has influenced subsequent generations of authors, artists, and musicians. Selby’s ...