A cage went in search of a bird Ten Kafkaesque stories

Book - 2024

"What happens when Kafka's idiosyncratic imagination meets some of the greatest literary minds writing in English across the globe today? Find out in this anthology of brand-new Kafka-inspired short stories by prizewinning, bestselling writers from across the globe"--Back cover.

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Subjects
Genres
Short stories
Published
New York, NY : Catapult [2024]
Language
English
Other Authors
Ali Smith (author), Joshua Cohen, 1980- (writer of introduction), Elif Batuman, 1977-, Naomi Alderman, Tommy Orange, 1982-, Helen Oyeyemi, Keith Ridgway, 1965-, Yiyun Li, 1972-, Leone Ross, 1969-, Charlie Kaufman, 1958-, Becca Rothfeld
Edition
First Catapult edition
Physical Description
xiv, 209 pages ; 22 cm
ISBN
9781646222636
  • Introduction
  • Art Hotel
  • Return to the Museum
  • The Board
  • God's Doorbell
  • The Hurt
  • Hygiene
  • The Landlord
  • Apostrophe's Dream
  • Headache
  • This Fact Can Even Be Proved by Means of the Sense of Hearing
  • Contributors' Bios
  • Lines Written
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

This inspired anthology demonstrates the enduring influence of Franz Kafka's fatalistic worldview and mordant humor. In the introduction, Becca Rothfeld muses on Kafka's "mystifying" aphorisms and recurring theme of imprisonment, suggesting that "we might begin to sympathize with the cage looking for a bird, for we, too, are desperate to catch the fugitive flutter of comprehension." Standout entries include "The Board," Elif Batuman's amusing tale of a woman who goes through bureaucratic hoops to purchase a basement apartment, and Joshua Cohen's "Return to the Museum," written from the perspective of a Neanderthal on display at a natural history museum as it reopens after a pandemic. Lingering pandemic fears also pop up in Tommy Orange's "The Hurt" and Helen Oyeyemi's "Hygiene," though both fail to stick their respective landings. More successful is Yiyun Li's "Apostrophe's Dream," which takes the form of a play staged by various punctuation marks about the gradual abandonment of their proper usage. Charlie Kaufman's metafictional closer is equally clever, unspooling the story of an author who, after his book launch, learns he inadvertently copied Kafka's language and sees his life upended. These stories will do the trick for the Kafka curious and diehard fans alike. (June)

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