The Breast

published	March 15th 1994 by Vintage
first published	1984
binding	Paperback
isbn	0679749012 (isbn13: 9780679749011)
ebook
pages	96
description	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...more [close] 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 funny yet touching exploration of the full implications of Kepesh's metamorphosis—a daring, heretical book that brings us face to face with the intrinsic strangeness of sex and subjectivity. [close]
date added	02-01-07 edit book

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Richard rated it:

07/11/08

Read in May, 2007

The allusions to Kafka's "Metamorphosis" in comparison to this work seem a little easy and not altogether reliable--yes, there is a transformation, but the result of the transformation goes a little more in the way of Gogol's "The Nose," how the aftermath becomes more comical and grounded in social satire, than through the family exploration of Kafka. Roth, no doubt, had some sense of this when he referenced Gogol in the work itself, but I tend to look at this work a light cl...more The allusions to Kafka's "Metamorphosis" in comparison to this work seem a little easy and not altogether reliable--yes, there is a transformation, but the result of the transformation goes a little more in the way of Gogol's "The Nose," how the aftermath becomes more comical and grounded in social satire, than through the family exploration of Kafka. Roth, no doubt, had some sense of this when he referenced Gogol in the work itself, but I tend to look at this work a light closer to Trumbo's _Johnny Got His Gun_, with the subject matter exploring more of the sexual revolution than war. Trumbo may be a little more heavy-handed, but the lack of limbs in Kepesh when he transforms into a gigantic mammory gland, and his limited perception of and contact with the outside world, make this work more akin to Trumbo with a sprinkling of Gogol.

But one thing is never in doubt--and that this book is FUNNY. Roth has an amazing handle of comedy on the page--a tough craft to master, mind you. This read is very short and quick, but it sure gives you some images to haunt and humor you for a long time. Kepesh's sudden sexual voraciousness and his lapses into hysteria and out-and-out psychosis, all while burbling about as a giant breast in a makeshift bra in a hospital bed, are the very stuff of sexual revolution, the sensual and boundlessness of desire overtaking the stuffy life of the mind that Kepesh had allowed himself to fall into. A breast that cries and screams and develops a desire for women to use its nipple for their pleasure? I would be surprised if no graphic novelist has considered making this work visual--that would be either a failure of imagination, or simply a certain amount of illiteracy.

_The Breast_ is an early work from a man who has found the most admirable essence of the American spirit--somewhat crude, almost perverse, but readily able to ponder life's deeper issues and nobility. A good read that easily lends itself to more exploration of this master.
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The Breast

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