Yalom presents us with an engaging look at the history of the breast. The arrangement is roughly chronological, but she breaks away from the straight chronological presentation to divide the chapters thematically, subsequently exploring the breast as sacred, erotic, domestic, political, psychological, commercial, medicalized, and liberated.

To a large degree, the story of the breast is the story of women. Thus, if you've read much along those lines, much of that will be familiar. Even so, I found much that was new to me. The chapter the medicalized breast, which included a history of breast cancer treatments, was educational (and heart wrenching, at times).

My main criticism of this book is that it is primarily a history of the western and mostly upper class breast as seen by men. The second and third criticism -- upper class and the male gaze -- are hardly Yalom's fault. In fact, one of her themes throughout the book is how it is only in recent decades that women's voices have been able to openly speak about the breast. Before that men often defined the societal meaning of the breast, just as they defined women. And since much of that definition was through art, paintings and poetry in particular, that vision tended to focuses on upper class women.

But I am surprised at the lack of non-western perspective, beyond a couple scattered remarks. Just as it was an "ah hah" moment for my really feeling that attractiveness is socially constructed when I learned that the ideal French medieval breast was small and high, it would have been even more perspective stretching to see views of the breast in cultures I am less familiar with.

Overall, this was an engaging read. ( )

An interesting and amusing book, this was read for a college course on the history of women. I recommend as good starter book on the history - a book to use as a springboard for deeper studies. ( )

This book was interesting, but it expanded upon knowledge I already had rather than teaching me anything new. My primary complaint is that when the book hit the modern era (modern relative to the book itself, which was published in 1998) it left anecdotal evidence at the station and hopped right on board a speculation train. The best example I have of this is the author's treatment of nipple rings - take the following quote:

". . . the symbolic meaning of the nipple ring draws from both conscious and unconscious motivations. Women with nipple rings speak of 'marking a transition' in their lives or 'creating a new sexual identity' or making their breasts 'more exciting' or simply wanting to distinguish themselves from more conventional folk. Perhaps they also want to signal to prospective partners that they are not breeders or nurses, at least temporarily."

Whoa there, partner. I got a nipple piercing in 1999, admittedly a year after this book was initially published but certainly social convention hadn't changed much in the preceding 12 months. The reason behind my own choice to pierce is multifaceted and not really fitting for a book review, but suffice it to say that my choice had absolutely nothing to do with the reasons outlined in the author's conjecture.

Essentially: I don't regret reading this, but I probably should have stopped when the author quit making sense. ( )

I first came across A History of the Breast while researching the evolution of the corset for a graduate term paper. Immediately intrigued by the straight-forward title and various brief reviews, I picked up the book with the intention of diving in at the earliest possible opportunity. Of course, that opportunity didn't seem to come until about 2.5 years later.

Marilyn Yalom's A History of the Breast is a fascinating work focusing on, obviously, the cultural evolution of the perception of the breast. Yalom's text moves chronologically and pulls from any and all material available, from statues to literature and pamphlets, to advertisements and modern social movements. While I was personally most interested in her examination of the breast as it evolved from "The Sacred Breast" of ancient civilizations to "The Domestic Breast" of the Dutch, the text attempts to cover a wide range of subjects extending into politics, psychology, and commercialism.

What I feel is an unfortunate flaw in Yalom's work is her assumptive attitude towards her reader; she assumes that her audience consists solely of other feminist scholars, and seems to be writing directly to them as opposed to a wider audience of scholars and enthusiasts. While very little of the work actually seems to rely on feminist theory and interpretation, Yalom's historical analysis at times appears to be overly-hostile to her subjects (specifically those of the Renaissance) while providing no academic basis for such hostility within this individual work. As a student and instructor of literature, I found her treatment of English literature particularly troubling; it seems to detract from the strength of the writing, as it reduces great works to rather shallow interpretations. Of course, feminist theory is an academically rich field in and of itself, and it's just as likely that my own ignorance of Yalom's field is as at fault for my discomfort as the text itself.

Overall, I was very pleased with A History of the Breast and the wealth of information and insight it provided. Yalom's style is easy to read, and logically presented in such a way as to build the reader's understanding as the book progresses. For anyone interested in gender studies, women's history, breasts and breastfeeding, the female form in art and culture, or the evolution of women's clothing I would certainly recommend this book. ( )

This book manages to cover quite a bit of ground, just by examining one body part. The view of the breast has changed in history, from a spiritual image in the many-breasted goddesses, to a political image in Revolutionary-era France, to a medical image. Of course, the sexuality of the breast is also examined in great detail. The ongoing theme through the book is how much one part of a woman is used and manipulated-sexualized, exploited for captial and political gain, and portrayed in art. This book never reads like a feminist polemic, though, which is one of its great strengths. It's good to have a little background in history before reading this, and it is an amazing book to read along with A History of the Wife and Sex in History. ( )