# Is "Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present" by David Foster Wallace and Mark Costello a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present by David Foster Wallace and Mark Costello (The Ecco Press, 1990) is identified by: The true first is the US Ecco Press edition of 1990, a trade paperback original in glossy color pictorial wrappers (140 pp. US Ecco Press (1990) is the true first; there is no UK or simultaneous edition — it is a US-only paperback original.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the US Ecco Press edition of 1990, a trade paperback original in glossy color pictorial wrappers (140 pp. plus a [19]-pp. appendix) — there was no hardcover state, so the wrappers ARE the first and only issue of the first edition
- The cover reproduces art by Jean-Michel Basquiat; the copyright page identifies the Ecco first printing, though the exact number line was not independently transcribed from the sources consulted and is therefore not stated here
- This is Wallace's third book, co-written with Mark Costello, and an uncommon early DFW title (dealers describe signed copies as scarce)
- Publisher imprint reads The Ecco Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | David Foster Wallace and Mark Costello |
| Publisher | The Ecco Press |
| Year | 1990 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the US Ecco Press edition of 1990, a trade paperback original in glossy color pictorial wrappers (140 pp. plus a [19]-pp.… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The true first is the US Ecco Press edition of 1990, a trade paperback original in glossy color pictorial wrappers (140 pp. plus a [19]-pp. appendix) — there was no hardcover state, so the wrappers ARE the first and only issue of the first edition. The cover reproduces art by Jean-Michel Basquiat; the copyright page identifies the Ecco first printing, though the exact number line was not independently transcribed from the sources consulted and is therefore not stated here. This is Wallace's third book, co-written with Mark Costello, and an uncommon early DFW title (dealers describe signed copies as scarce).

## Is this the true first?
US Ecco Press (1990) is the true first; there is no UK or simultaneous edition — it is a US-only paperback original. The full title on the first edition is 'Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present.'

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Reissued in 2013 by Back Bay Books / Little, Brown (ISBN 978-0-316-22583-0) after Wallace's death — the reprint drops the original subtitle and adds a new foreword by Costello, and is not a first. No book-club issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present* by David Foster Wallace and Mark Costello a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/signifying-rappers-rap-and-race-in-the-urban-present
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.