# Is "The Broom of the System" by David Foster Wallace a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace (Viking, 1987) is identified by: Hardcover bound in light blue paper-covered boards over black spine cloth, stamped on the spine in metallic blue; dust jacket carries the printed price; number line present down to 1. Wallace's debut novel.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Hardcover bound in light blue paper-covered boards over black spine cloth, stamped on the spine in metallic blue; dust jacket carries the printed price; number line present down to 1
- The cloth print run was roughly 1,300 copies, with a simultaneous trade paperback in pictorial wraps
- Publisher imprint reads Viking
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | David Foster Wallace |
| Publisher | Viking |
| Year | 1987 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Hardcover bound in light blue paper-covered boards over black spine cloth, stamped on the spine in metallic blue; dust jacket carries the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Hardcover bound in light blue paper-covered boards over black spine cloth, stamped on the spine in metallic blue; dust jacket carries the printed price; number line present down to 1. The cloth print run was roughly 1,300 copies, with a simultaneous trade paperback in pictorial wraps.

## Is this the true first?
Wallace's debut novel. The cloth hardcover is the desirable true first; the simultaneous Viking trade paperback in pictorial wraps is also a first printing but far less sought after. The US edition is the first; no foreign precedence issue.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition (the run was small and literary). The common later state is the later paperback reprint under a different imprint, plainly a different publisher and later.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Broom of the System* by David Foster Wallace a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-broom-of-the-system
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.