# Is "Slowness" by Milan Kundera a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Slowness by Milan Kundera (HarperCollins, 1996) is identified by: First US edition, HarperCollins, New York, 1996 (ISBN 0060173696), translated by Linda Asher; issued as a cloth hardcover in the original dust jacket. First English translation of La lenteur (Gallimard, 1995), the first work of fiction Kundera wrote directly in French.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First US edition, HarperCollins, New York, 1996 (ISBN 0060173696), translated by Linda Asher; issued as a cloth hardcover in the original dust jacket
- Advance reading copies exist separately and are not the trade first
- Both the US HarperCollins and UK Faber and Faber printings appeared in 1996
- Publisher imprint reads HarperCollins
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Milan Kundera |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Year | 1996 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First US edition, HarperCollins, New York, 1996 (ISBN 0060173696), translated by Linda… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First US edition, HarperCollins, New York, 1996 (ISBN 0060173696), translated by Linda Asher; issued as a cloth hardcover in the original dust jacket. Advance reading copies exist separately and are not the trade first. Both the US HarperCollins and UK Faber and Faber printings appeared in 1996.

## Is this the true first?
First English translation of La lenteur (Gallimard, 1995), the first work of fiction Kundera wrote directly in French. The US HarperCollins issue and the UK Faber and Faber issue both appeared in 1996; the Faber paperback followed in 1997.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No notable book-club edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Slowness* by Milan Kundera a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/slowness
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.