{"product_id":"9781429988834","title":"Why You Should Read Kafka Before You Waste Your Life","description":"\u003cp\u003eEverybody knows the face of Franz Kafka, whether they have read any of his works or not. And that brooding face carries instant images: bleak and threatening visions of an inescapable bureaucracy, nightmarish transformations, uncanny predictions of the Holocaust. But while Kafka's genius is beyond question, the image of a mysterious, sickly, shadowy figure who was scarcely known in his own lifetime bears no resemblance to the historical reality. Franz Kafka was a popular and well-connected millionaire's son who enjoyed good-time girls, brothels, and expensive porn, who landed a highly desirable state job that pulled in at least $90,000 a year in today's dollars for a six-hour day, who remained a loyal member of Prague's German-speaking Imperial elite right to the end, and whose work was backed by a powerful literary clique.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere are some of the prevalent Kafka myths:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e*Kafka was the archetypal genius neglected in his lifetime.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e*Kafka was lonely.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e*Kafka was stuck in a dead-end job, struggling to find time to write. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e*Kafka was tormented by fear of sex.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e*Kafka was unbendingly honest about himself to the women in his life – \u003ci\u003etoo\u003c\/i\u003e honest.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e*Kafka had a terrible, domineering father who had no understanding of his son's needs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e*Kafka's style is mysterious and opaque.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e*Kafka takes us into bizarre worlds. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJames Hawes wants to tear down the critical walls which generations of gatekeepers---scholars, biographers, and tourist guides---have built up around Franz Kafka, giving us back the real man and the real significance of his splendid works. And he'll take no prisoners in the process.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"St. Martin's Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47154204410096,"sku":"9781429988834","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781429988834_p0.jpg?v=1769903849","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781429988834","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}