Customer Reviews

The Breast Book: An Intimate and Curious History

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This book does for breasts what "The Vagina Monologues" did for that other ubiquitous portion of the female anatomy. But breasts are more "out there," visually and socially, and this extremely fun book (approximately the size of a breast) uses hundreds of photographs to celebrate them and document societies' ever-changing attitudes, codes, fashions and artistic representation (one chapter is devoted solely to their representation by woman artists). There's a thoughtful chapter about adolescence; funny bits about Hollywood (in a candid shot, Sophia Loren in all her glory glances disapprovingly at Jayne Mansfield's down-to-the-nipple decolletage); interesting facts about the breast's dual role as sexual organ and milk producer -- hence the duality of the sacred and the profane. Since the book fits so comfortably in the hand, I find myself taking it with me from room to room, so I bought myself another on and now I have a pair.

I bought this book after seeing "Cleavage" on A&E a few weeks ago since one of the authors was featured on the show. (Side note: I was quite frankly amazed not to see Marilyn Yalom on this show, but maybe I missed her.) This is a small, cute and flirty book that contains a sort of sound-byte history of the female breast. The pictures are great although far too many are not captioned - if you want to know what you're looking at, you'll need to comb through the credits at the back of the book. A few sections of the text are more or less meaningless (i.e., The Veiled Erotic); others do have lots of genuine facts and insights. In other words, if you want to look at pictures of bosoms without getting too wrapped up in history, politics or other serious issues, this is the book for you. That said, I do think that the book does a good job of looking (very, very briefly) at the breast in its many incarnations: sex object, food, cultural icon, etc. It's a good starting point if you have a serious interest in the history of the breast. I would probably rate this book higher if 1) the book was bigger, 2) and went into more detail. To my mind, if this book is a publishing gimmick (which I believe to be the case), then why not spring for a bit more substance? With all the pictures, I am certain people would be willing to plunk down the cash for it.

I read that the authors put two years of research into this book, and I am pretty perplexed by that. The book came out in 2002, yet a lot of the information could have been directly lifted from Marilyn Yalom's A History of the Breast, which was published in 1995, and which is excellent and far superior (I would recommend it to anyone). Perhaps those two years were spent compiling the very nice collection of photos.

In our culture of breast implants, sexual focus on breasts, negative views of breastfeeding, the rise of breast cancer, and the sexual and esteem implications that come from it all, this book is sure to TITillate, humor and EMPOWER women!

This book covers the historical views of breasts, as well as the functioning breast (yes, they're actually made to lactate!), the political breast and the sexual breast. I love that it is small, but packed with illustrations and photographs that I had never seen before!

A great little gift for yourself - start appreciating your breasts and they won't let you down!

While I like the contents of this book and its many photos, it should have been the size of a coffee table book. Its cropped nature makes for a less enjoyable read than would a larger lap book. The smallness of it makes the book seem big, because it is extremely thick for any book; about 450 pages. Why not a larger, more readable book of 100 pages? It is a disappointing physical format.

From bare to adorned, The Breast Book collaboratively written by Maura Spiegel & Lithe Sebesta provides a survey of the breast in art and movies from early to modern times. While the subject and short stature of The Breast Book may not lend to easy library shelving or lending, this will prove a pick for any involved in real life art who want a history of changing representations over the decades.

The Breast Book by Maura Spiegel and Lithe Sebesta is a fascinating and fact-filled compendium about the breast.

The Book is scientific, yet saucy, which it makes it fun to read and filled with solid information.

From the delightful collection of breast photos (both old and new) to the Slang Appendix of Breast synonyms, the Book continually amazes and surprises the reader.

A definite, delightful read sure to please all readers. Don't miss reading this Book!!