Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was born to Jewish parents in Prague and wrote in German. He published only a few story collections and individual stories in literary magazines during his lifetime. The rest of his work was published posthumously. He is now considered one of the most influential authors of the twentieth century.
Praise for The Unhappiness of Being a Single Man: 'A welcome distillation of Kafka's short fiction, essential indeed.' - Kirkus Reviews 'The Unhappiness of Being a Single Man nicely makes a case that readers should not forget Kafka's sly sense of humor and, of course, his humanity, when considering his impact on culture.' - Noah Cruickshank, Forefront, in Shelf Awareness Praise for the work of Franz Kafka: 'The stories are dreamlike, allegorical, symbolic, parabolic, grotesque, ritualistic, nasty, lucent, extremely personal, ghoulishly detached, exquisitely comic, numinous, and prophetic.' - The New York Times 'The greatest German writer of our time. Such poets as Rilke or such novelists as Thomas Mann are dwarfs or plastic saints in comparison with him.' - Vladimir Nabokov 'A genius.' - The Guardian '[Kafka] spoke for millions in their new unease; a century after his birth, he seems the last holy writer, and the supreme fabulist of modern man's cosmic predicament.' - John Updike