''Kafka Americana'' is a

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

collection of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

Jonathan Lethem Jonathan Allen Lethem (; born February 19, 1964) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. His first novel, '' Gun, with Occasional Music'', a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, was publi ...

and Carter Scholz based on the life (and alternate histories) and works of

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ty ...

. Originally published in a limited edition by

Subterranean Press Subterranean Press is a small press publisher in Burton, Michigan. Subterranean is best known for publishing genre fiction, primarily horror, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. In addition to publishing novels, short story ...

, it was released as a

trade paperback Trade paperback may refer to: * Trade paperback, a higher-quality softcover version of a book * Trade paperback (comics) In comics in the United States, a trade paperback (shortened: TPB or trade) is a collection of stories originally published ...

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 Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book '' Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939 ...

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 Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

. First published in ''Crank!'' 5. * "The Amount to Carry" (Scholz) :Kafka meets fellow insurance executives

Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance comp ...

and Charles Ives. First published in ''Starlight'' 2. * "K. for Fake" (Lethem) :Parody of ''

The Trial ''The Trial'' (german: Der Process, link=no, previously , and ) is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and p ...

''. First published in ''

McSweeney's Quarterly ''Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'' is an American literary journal, founded in 1998, typically containing short stories, reportage, and illustrations. Some issues also include poetry, comic strips, and novellas. ''The Quarterly Concern'' is ...

'' 4.

References

* Lethem, Jonathan and Carter Scholz. ''Kafka Americana''. W. W. Norton & Company, 2001. {{Kafka adaptations 1999 short story collections Short story collections by Jonathan Lethem Works about Franz Kafka Works originally published in Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern Subterranean Press books