Kafka Americana

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Kafka Americana is a collection of short stories by Jonathan Lethem and Carter Scholz based on works by Franz Kafka.

[edit] 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 on 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 2.

[edit] References

Lethem, Jonathan and Carter Scholz. Kafka Americana. W. W. Norton & Company, 2001. ISBN 978-0393322538

Adaptations of works by Franz Kafka v • d • e

Feature Films: The Trial (1962) • Kafka (1991) • The Trial(1993) • The Castle (1997)

Short Films: Metamorphosis (Germany, 1975) • Metamorphosis (Sweden, 1976) • The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa (Canada, 1977) • Metamorphosis (UK, 1987) • Franz Kafka (Poland, 1992) • Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life (USA, 1993) • Zoetrope (adaptation of In the Penal Colony, USA, 1999) • The Hunger Artist (USA, 2002) • Metamorphosis (Russia, 2002) • Human Body (adaptation of A Country Doctor, Germany, 2004)