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The Breast
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The Breast (1972) (edit title/settings)

by Philip Roth (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Like a latter-day Gregor Samsa, Professor David Kepesh wakes up one morning to find that he has been transformed. But where Kafka's protagonist turned into a giant beetle, the narrator of Philip Roth's richly conceived fantasy has become a 155-pound female breast. What follows is a deliriously... read more

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Claire Ovington: David's girlfriend. She is a fourth grade teacher.
  • Dr. Klinger: He has been David's psychoanalyst for five years. Continues to visit him after the change.
  • David Alan Kepesh: College professer who, overnight, changes into a 155lb, six foot female breast. In this form he has no arms or legs. His senses are reduced to hearing and speech.
  • Dr. Gordon: David's doctor
  • Arthur Sconbrunn: Arthur is the former chair of David's department at the College. Now Dean.
  • Kafka: The writer who famously wrote a book about a man who turned into a beetle.
  • Miss Clark: Nurse who washes David whilst he is in hospital. She does this Monday through to Saturday.
  • Mr. Brooks: The male nurse who, initially, washes David on Sundays but eventually takes over from Miss Clark.
  • Debbie Schonbrunn: Arthur's wife.
  • Abe Kapesh: David's father who visits him regularly in hospital.
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “The bulk of my weight is fatty tissue. At one of my ends I am rounded off like a watermelon; at the other I terminate in a nipple, cylindrical in shape, projecting five inches from my "body," and perforated at the tip with seventeen openings, each about half the size of the male urethral orifice.”
    Mr. Kepesh

Setting & Locations edit see section history

First Sentence edit see section history

"It began oddly."

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 351 of 1271 in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (authoritative list)

Preceded by Invisible Cities, and followed by The Summer Book.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Philip Roth (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Holt, Rinehart and Winston of Canada, Limited
Country: Canada
Publication Date: 1972
ISBN: 0-03-003716-6
Page Count: 78

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3568.O855 B7
  • Dewey: 813.54

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