The Breast

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The Breast

Cover of Vintage Classics reprint
Author Philip Roth
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Novella
Publisher Vintage (reprint)
Publication date 1972
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 96
ISBN ISBN 0679749012
ISBN 978-0679749011
Followed by The Professor of Desire

The Breast (1972) is a novella by Philip Roth, in which the main character, David Kepesh, becomes a 155-pound breast. Throughout the book Kepesh fights with himself. Part of him wishes to give in to bodily desires, while the other part of him wants to be rational. Kepesh, a literature professor, compares his plight with that of fictional characters such as Gregor Samsa in Kafka's novella The Metamorphosis and Kovalyov in Nikolai Gogol's short story "The Nose". Throughout the novel, he describes the various sexual and physical feelings he has while people handle him, while initiating sex with his girlfriend, and while he is alone.