Kafka Americana
From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
First edition cover
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| Author | Jonathan Lethem Carter Scholz |
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| Cover artist | Jacket design by Zwetana Penova Cover illustration by Perry Hoberman |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Short stories, pastiche, parody |
| Publisher | Subterranean Press |
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Publication date
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November 1999 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 100 pp (first edition, hardcover) |
| ISBN | 1-892284-43-X (first edition, hardcover) |
| OCLC | 43333743 |
| Preceded by | Motherless Brooklyn |
| Followed by | The Fortress of Solitude (novel) |
Kafka Americana is a 1999 collection of short stories by Jonathan Lethem and Carter Scholz based on the life (and alternate histories) and works of Franz Kafka. Originally published in a limited edition by Subterranean Press, it was released as a trade paperback by W. W. Norton & Company in 2001.
The stories
- "Blumfeld, an Elderly Bachelor" (Scholz)
- A re-imagining of Kafka's uncompleted short story. First published in Crank! 1.
- "The Notebooks of Bob K." (Lethem)
- Batman is presented as Kafka's creation, with parodies of some of Kafka's famous aphorisms and stories, including "The Burrow", "A Crossbreed (A Sport)", and "The Vulture". A significantly different version of the story appeared in Gas 6.
- "Receding Horizon" (Lethem & Scholz)
- Kafka comes to America, changes his name to Jack Dawson, and writes screenplays in Hollywood. First published in Crank! 5.
- "The Amount to Carry" (Scholz)
- Kafka meets fellow insurance executives Wallace Stevens and Charles Ives. First published in Starlight 2.
- "K. for Fake" (Lethem)
- Parody of The Trial. First published in McSweeney's Quarterly 4.
References
- Lethem, Jonathan and Carter Scholz. Kafka Americana. W. W. Norton & Company, 2001. ISBN 0-393-32253-X
