signed-firsts

The Breast (1972) Signed First Edition Reference

Approx. 2 min read · 4 May 2026

The Breast (1972) is Philip Roth’s shortest novel and his most deliberately provocative thought experiment: David Kepesh, a literature professor, wakes up to discover he has been transformed into a giant female breast. The Kafkaesque premise is played straight — Kepesh retains consciousness and speech while inhabiting an entirely new physical form, and the novella explores his psychological, sexual, and philosophical responses to this transformation. Published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, the book inaugurated the Kepesh series that would later include The Professor of Desire (1977) and The Dying Animal (2001).

First Edition Identification

Publisher: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York Publication date: 1972 Format: Hardcover, 78 pages First printing indicator: “First Edition” on the copyright page

The brevity of the book — under 80 pages — makes it technically a novella rather than a novel. The first printing was modest, reflecting the work’s experimental nature and slim format.

Signed Copy Values

Flat-signed: $300–$600
Inscribed: $500–$1,000

Low-tier pricing in the Roth market. The novella’s brevity and its deliberately absurdist premise place it outside the main current of Roth collecting, which centers on the large realistic novels. Signed copies surface infrequently but do not generate competitive bidding when they appear.

Literary Significance

The Breast is more interesting as a statement about Roth’s artistic ambitions than as a standalone work. Coming immediately after Portnoy’s Complaint and Our Gang, it signals Roth’s determination to resist commercial pressure to repeat his successes — he could have written another Portnoy-style novel and made a great deal of money, and instead he wrote a 78-page Kafka homage about a man who becomes a breast. The contrarian gesture is characteristic, and for collectors who value the arc of a career, the book occupies a pivotal position.

Collector Notes

The slim format means condition issues are less severe than for thicker books — hinges are less stressed, the spine is narrow and less prone to fading. The dust jacket, however, is proportionally more important to overall value because the book itself is so small. A fine jacket transforms the collectibility of the copy.