The book tells the fates of four New Yorkers who, unable to endure the difference between dreams of an ideal life and the real world, seek solace in illusions. Sarah Goldfarb, who has lost her husband, dreams only of being on a TV show and appearing in her favorite red dress. To fit into it, she goes on a diet of mind-altering pills. Sarah’s son Harry, his girlfriend Marion and best friend Tyrone try to get rich and escape the life that surrounds them by dealing heroin. The boys themselves are dabbling in drugs. Life seems like a fairy tale to them, and none of the four realize that they have become addicted to this fairy tale. Gradually it becomes clear that the main character of the novel is Addiction, and the book itself is a manifesto of the triumph of addiction over the human spirit. A requiem for all those who, for the sake of illusion, betrayed life and lost the Man in themselves.

Author: Hubert Selby, Jr.
Published:  1978
Original language:  English
Literary Genre: Novel, Drama