Overview
In the course of compiling his highly acclaimed three-volume biography of Kafka, while foraying to libraries and archives from Prague to Israel, Reiner Stach made one astounding discovery after another: unexpected photographs, inconsistencies in handwritten texts, excerpts from letters, and testimonies from Kafka's contemporaries that shed surprising light on his personality and his writing. Is That Kafka? presents the crystal granules of the real Kafka: he couldn't lie, but he tried to cheat on his high-school exams; bitten by the fitness fad, he avidly followed the regime of a Danish exercise guru; he drew beautifully; he loved beer; he read biographies voraciously; he made the most beautiful presents, especially for children; odd things made him cry or made him furious; he adored slapstick. Every discovery by Stach turns on its head the stereotypical version of the tortured neurotic-and as each one chips away at the monolithic dark Kafka, the keynote, of all things, becomes laughter. For Is That Kafka? Stach has assembled 99 of his most exciting discoveries, culling the choicest, most entertaining bits, and adding his knowledgeable commentaries. Illustrated with dozens of previously unknown images, this volume is a singular literary pleasure.
Full Product Details
Author: Reiner Stach ,
Kurt Beals
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
Imprint: New Directions Publishing Corporation
Dimensions:
Width: 12.70cm
, Height: 2.30cm
, Length: 19.60cm
Weight: 0.343kg
ISBN: 9780811225168
ISBN 10: 081122516
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 07 March 2017
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.
Reviews
This collection, original and entertaining, is a masterful, exciting mix of diligent research and sophisticated literary gossip.
A playful new book from Reiner Stach, one that pulls together ninety nine facts and observations from the Czech author's life, all with the purpose of clearing the brush of falsehoods about the man that linger in the public imagination. -- Jonathon Sturgeon - Flavorwire Moves beyond the myths and cliches. -- Michael Dirda - The Washington Post
""A playful new book from Reiner Stach, one that pulls together ninety nine facts and observations from the Czech author's life, all with the purpose of clearing the brush of falsehoods about the man that linger in the public imagination."" -- Jonathon Sturgeon - Flavorwire "" Moves beyond the myths and cliches."" -- Michael Dirda - The Washington Post
Author Information
Reiner Stach, born in 1951 in Saxony, is the author of the definitive biography of Kafka. The first two volumes, published by Princeton University Press, received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly (""superb""), Library Journal (""a monumental accomplishment""), Kirkus (""essential""), and Booklist (""masterful""). ""I can't say enough about the liveliness and richness of Stach's book,"" Michael Dirda exclaimed in The Washington Post. ""Every page feels excited, dynamic, utterly alive."" In 2010 Kurt Beals was a finalist for the Best Translated Book Award for Anja Utler's engulf-enkindle, and in 2012 he won the first ever German Book Office Translation Prize. His translation of Regina Ullmann's The Country Road was published by New Directions in 2015.
