The Metamorphosis and Other Stories

A man awakens to find himself transformed into a giant vermin; a performer starves himself to death as a circus attraction; a fiendish engine of capital punishment engraves the letter of the law into the body of the condemned. Such are the nightmare scenarios that emerge in the short stories of Franz Kafka, one of the twentieth centurys most formative, mystifying literary figures. Though immediate in their impact, Kafkas stories invite endless angles of interpretation, from Freudian psychology and existentialist philosophy to animal studies.

This volume presents The Metamorphosistogether with several other of Kafkas best and best-known storiesin a nuanced, clear, and powerful translation by Ian Johnston. The appendices provide philosophical, literary, and cultural context, as well as valuable selections from Kafkas own letters and drawings. See more