# Is "Life Is Elsewhere" by Milan Kundera a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Life Is Elsewhere by Milan Kundera (Alfred A. Knopf, 1974) is identified by: First American edition, Alfred A. First English-language edition of Zivot je jinde (1973), Kundera's second novel.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First American edition, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1974; octavo, 289 pages, in greenish-gray cloth with titles stamped to the spine, in an unclipped illustrated dust jacket with cover illustration by Frank A. Fitzgerald; translated from the Czech by Peter Kussi
- The jacket should retain its printed price
- Publisher imprint reads Alfred A. Knopf
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Milan Kundera |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
| Year | 1974 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First American edition, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1974; octavo, 289 pages, in greenish-gray cloth with titles stamped to the spine, in an… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First American edition, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1974; octavo, 289 pages, in greenish-gray cloth with titles stamped to the spine, in an unclipped illustrated dust jacket with cover illustration by Frank A. Fitzgerald; translated from the Czech by Peter Kussi. The jacket should retain its printed price.

## Is this the true first?
First English-language edition of Zivot je jinde (1973), Kundera's second novel. The novel had earlier appeared in French and won the Prix Medicis etranger.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Confirm the first Knopf printing by the absence of any later-printing statement on the copyright page; no single reliable blindstamp point is documented for this title.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Life Is Elsewhere* by Milan Kundera a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/life-is-elsewhere
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.