# Is "My Struggle: Book One (Min kamp 1)" by Karl Ove Knausgaard a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of My Struggle: Book One (Min kamp 1) by Karl Ove Knausgaard (Archipelago Books, 2012) is identified by: First English-language edition, translated by Don Bartlett, titled My Struggle: Book One, published by Archipelago Books, 2012 (ISBN 9780914671008). Two distinct 2012 English firsts appeared under different titles: the US Archipelago trade paperback My Struggle: Book One and the UK Harvill Secker edition retitled A Death in the Family, both in the Bartlett translation.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First English-language edition, translated by Don Bartlett, titled My Struggle: Book One, published by Archipelago Books, 2012 (ISBN 9780914671008)
- Issued as a TRADE PAPERBACK ORIGINAL — there was no Archipelago hardcover first
- The first edition is identified by the Archipelago imprint and the absence of any later-edition statement on the copyright page
- Publisher imprint reads Archipelago Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Karl Ove Knausgaard |
| Publisher | Archipelago Books |
| Year | 2012 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First English-language edition, translated by Don Bartlett, titled My Struggle: Book One, published by Archipelago Books, 2012 (ISBN… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First English-language edition, translated by Don Bartlett, titled My Struggle: Book One, published by Archipelago Books, 2012 (ISBN 9780914671008). Issued as a TRADE PAPERBACK ORIGINAL — there was no Archipelago hardcover first. The first edition is identified by the Archipelago imprint and the absence of any later-edition statement on the copyright page.

## Is this the true first?
Two distinct 2012 English firsts appeared under different titles: the US Archipelago trade paperback My Struggle: Book One and the UK Harvill Secker edition retitled A Death in the Family, both in the Bartlett translation. The US Archipelago paperback original is the collectible English-language first under the series title. Norwegian original published by Forlaget Oktober, 2009.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A later Archipelago hardcover exists but is marked Second Edition on the copyright page, reflecting that the trade paperback came first. FSG paperback reprints are also not the first. Confirm the Archipelago imprint, the My Struggle: Book One title, and trade-paperback format with no later-edition statement.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *My Struggle: Book One (Min kamp 1)* by Karl Ove Knausgaard a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/my-struggle-book-one-min-kamp-1
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.