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The Demon: A Novel [Paperback]

Hubert Selby (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: 1 May 1978

Harry White is the man other men want to be: admired by his peers, talented, rich, and desired by countless women. His steady rise to a position of unprecedented influence in a New York investment firm seems inevitable to those who know him, and on the way he acquires a beautiful wife and children. But with every achievement the desire to destroy what is his grows stronger. A demon within drives him to sexual excess, petty crime and eventually murder.

The Demon explores the dark side of a man's ambitions with unflinching determination. Harry White's story is a gripping twentieth-century tragedy.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product details

  • Paperback: 312 pages
  • Publisher: Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd; New edition edition (1 May 1978)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0714525995
  • ISBN-13: 978-0714525990
  • Product Dimensions: 13.5 x 2.2 x 21.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 716,410 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

Selby's place is in the front rank of American novelists ... to understand his work is to understand the anguish of America. (The New York Times Book Review )

A major author of a stature with William Burroughs and Joseph Heller (Los Angeles Times ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Hubert Selby, Jr. was born in Brooklyn in 1928. At the age of 15, he dropped out of school and went to sea with the merchant marines. While at sea he was diagnosed with lung disease. With no other way to make a living, he decided to try writing: 'I knew the alphabet. Maybe I could be a writer.' In 1964 he completed his first book, Last Exit to Brooklyn, which has since become a cult classic. In 1966, it was the subject of an obscenity trial in the UK. His other books include The Room, The Demon, Requiem for a Dream, Song of the Silent Snow, The Willow Tree and Waiting Period. In 2000, Requiem for a Dream starred Jared Leto and Ellen Burstyn and was directed by Darren Aronofsky. Hubert Selby Jr died in Highland Park, Los Angeles, California in April 2004. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrifying, raw, original... real. 22 Jan 2003
By R. Fox
Format:Paperback
Selby is just about the best author I have ever read. His books speak to me and make me believe what each page says more than any other author. There is a fundamental, and somewhat un-nerving, realism to his books that makes them highly uncomfortable reading, but it is this discomfort which makes me come back to his books again and again. Last Exit To Brooklyn blew me away, with it's picture perfect description of desperate, (an perhaps a little extreme) cases of inner-city slum-type living, and the psychological effects it can have upon it's street dwellers. Requiem For A Dream carried on a nasty, horrid-tasting tale of drug-related woe that Trainspotting could only begin to thinly paint. And now I've read The Demon, and this is another gut-wrencher, ready to pull you under life and show you how it REALLY works.

The Demon focuses on Harry White, a young, high-flying office worker in a successful Manhattan firm, who basically spends his days working hard, travelling hard (he has to journey from his parents' place out of town to work and back every single day), and seducing hard, because Harry's favourite hobby is to pick up strange women (especially if they're married - it adds to the excitement), and then basically dump them right after he's had his fun. The book goes on to show how Harry derives an almost narcotic-like craving for women, and begins to pick up just about anyone on his lunch hour, take them to a motel, and then try to get back to work on time. The futility of his carnal desperation soon takes it's toll on his work-load, and he finds himself getting torn between 'Broads' and potential promotion.

As time goes by, it seems that Harry grows up somewhat. He gets married to a lovely girl he knows called Linda, who mentally captured him by not sleeping with him 'til they were married, thus becoming a sort-of 'chase' for Harry to find irresistable. But even through the wonders and beauty of this marriage, Harry finds himself uneasy at work, on his lunch break, and even at home. So, he wanders the streets of New York and the deep, dark depths of his psychological make-up to find new and exciting ways to fulfill his constant craving for elation, excitement, adrenaline and even terror.

The way in which the story is paced, and the way that Selby has set the story out so that it can swing from one scene of absolute horror to a beautifl, emotional journey is immense. The writing is so bafflingly simple that this, itself, provides the most starkly human quality of all. There is no complex meaning to the way Harry feels, and even if there is, trying to figure it out is futile. The mind of the character is set. No pacing, no adjustment brought on by psychological help. He is what he is, and this will shock you for being to frank. It's like looking through someone's eyes, and that's why it's so good.

I highly recommend this book. No, I dare you to read this book. How does that sound?

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars what a powerful book.... 9 May 2004
By C. Alford
Format:Paperback
wow, this book ripped me apart. Selby's writing is just fantastic, he drags you down with the protaganist, making you feel his every emotion, whether you like him or not. He builds up such sympathy with Linda, i just found myself wanting to scream out loud whilst reading this, telling Harry to just stop and make everything alright. But of course this is Hubert Selby Jr we're talking about...
If you want to go on an emotional rollercoaster, read this book, if you like your books packed with adventure and a complex, cheesy storyline then don't because that's not what you're gonna get.
RIP Mr Selby
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful novel of psychological horror 11 Aug 2002
By Adam Brooks VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Very few novels have unsettled me as this one. It begins as a study of addiction, sex addiction in this case, with all the evasions, denials and behaviours of the addict depicted thoughtfully and with feeling.
The protagonist, Harry, has moments where he is aware that something is very wrong. Intermittently he senses how fulfilled he could be, and how the good things of his life really could be his salvation (a loving family, a passionate, loving marriage, children). But such moments of bewilderment change to horror as the stakes are raised.
His 'demon,' his addiction or obsession, leads him into more and more dangerous situations as it escalates the game, intensifying the need in Harry so that his drug of choice moves from casual sex, to dangerous sex, to petty crime, and then to the shocking acts of the novels conclusion.
The writer, unfortunately for your sleep, makes you care deeply for the protagonist, as his capacity for destruction increases with his outward success. The action takes place in Harry's tortured thoughts, and through the viewpoints of those close to him. The writing is brutal and poetic, stripped down and lethally accurate in its meaning. Not one word is superfluous in this brutal prose poem.
Incredible, exhilerating, but profoundly disturbing. Be prepared to be introduced to some of your own demons.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars not "my type of book"..
Obviously everyone is different and has different interests. I hadn't heard about Selby before (and so didn't know he also wrote Requiem for a Dream, which I'd wanted to read). Read more
Published 9 months ago by commedesfilles
3.0 out of 5 stars Quite readable but, ultimately a bit hollow
I bought this book after reading Last Exit to Brooklyn, which I thought was fantastic, and after watching Requiem for a Dream. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mr. J. Oxley
3.0 out of 5 stars Kindle edition ONLY
I read this as my first book to read on my Kindle and after spending over £8 I have to say I'm a little bit disappointed with the quality of the digitisation. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Kl Methuen-jones
5.0 out of 5 stars Death where is thy sting
Slated when it first hit the shelves. Selby was deemed an enfant terrible when he exposed the desperate lives of the working class and the outre worlds of Brooklyn in his first... Read more
Published on 22 April 2011 by Dr. Delvis Memphistopheles
5.0 out of 5 stars Oh so underrated.
This is simply the best of Hubert Selby Jr's output, preceding the brat pack and scathing so silently at the world. Read more
Published on 15 April 2011 by lomesa
5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece... one of Selby Jr's finest
This is one of the most powerful, compelling and complete novels I've ever read. A terrifying manifestation of one of the simple equations of fiction writing - that which states... Read more
Published on 29 Jan 2007 by Matt Pucci
4.0 out of 5 stars Sickeningly Compelling
This book wraps itself around you like a millstone ,and drags you down and down until you can hardly breathe. Read more
Published on 8 Dec 2006 by Goose
5.0 out of 5 stars all aboard... hell time
Harry has everything a man could wish for. Good looks, nice house, loving wife, well-paid job. But for Harry... it's not enough. He wants more. Much more. Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2005 by M Keenaghan
5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful novel of psychological horror
Very few novels have unsettled me as this one. It begins as a study of addiction, sex addiction in this case, with all the evasions, denials and behaviours of the addict depicted... Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2002 by Adam Brooks
4.0 out of 5 stars Hubert Selby Jr's best work
In my opinion, this is definitely Hubert Selby Jr's best novel. It is much more human and humane than 'Last Exit' or 'The Room' (both of which are far less balanced than this... Read more
Published on 2 July 2002
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