Is That Kafka?: 99 Finds
Description
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.
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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 99 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
It is fitting that such a tricksy little maze of a book would bloom from the life of Kafka, whose work operates better in smaller spaces.
A mishmash of ephemera, curiosities and confessionals, the finds range from the banal to the deeply personal, yet collectively paint as engaging and illustrative a portrait of the artist as any I've read.--Pasha Malla
A beautiful display of unexpected wonders and curiosities, each one glittering with light from a source that will never be understood.--Jeffrey Zuckerman
Reiner Stach has curated a collection of artifacts from the author's life in his latest book, "Is that Kafka? 99 Finds." The book, translated from the German by Kurt Beals, is a crowd-pleasing encore to Stach's monumental three-volume biography of the writer. Along with minimal commentary, he submits ninety-nine numbered exhibition items--documents, photographs, objects, scribbles, and doodles--for our consideration. The result is a box of fancy Austro-Hungarian chocolates...--Avi Steinberg
Each turn Stach makes adds nuance to his skillfully collaged portrait of Kafka.
"Is that Kafka?" indirectly contributes to an on going scholarly project, in Europe and America, to revisit many of the assumptions about the writer and his work, in effect, to move beyond the myths and clichés.--Michael Dirda
