The Metamorphosis and Other Stories offers readers a deeply compelling collection of Franz Kafka’s finest works, including his groundbreaking novella The Metamorphosis, where the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a giant insect, igniting a haunting existential exploration of alienation, family dynamics, and personal identity. This anthology features a diverse selection of Kafka's shorter, surreal tales, such as The Judgment, The Stoker: A Fragment, A Hunger Artist, and In the Penal Colony, where Kafka’s distinct voice and existential themes shine through. Other highlights include A Country Doctor, Josephine the Singer, or The Mouse People, and Before the Law.
A new translation by Donna Freed ensures that these masterpieces are presented in fresh and accessible language, with a thoughtful Translator's Afterword providing context for modern readers. This anthology captures the strange, unsettling worlds of Kafka’s imagination and is a must-read for those drawn to existentialism, absurdism, and literary innovation.
About the Author
Franz Kafka (1883–1924) was a German-speaking Jewish writer born in Prague, now part of the Czech Republic. Widely regarded as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, Kafka’s works explore the absurdity and alienation of modern life, often featuring protagonists trapped in bizarre, nightmarish situations. Though much of his work was not published during his lifetime, his existentialist themes—such as the quest for meaning in a seemingly indifferent or hostile world—have had a lasting impact on literature, philosophy, and culture. His major works, including The Trial, The Castle, and The Metamorphosis, continue to resonate with readers and scholars today, solidifying his place as a literary giant.
![When this classic collection of stories first appeared—in 1962, on the author’s thirtieth birthday—Arthur Mizener wrote in The New York Times Book Review: “Updike is a romantic [and] like all American romantics, that is, he has an irresistible impulse to go in memory home again in order to find himself. . . . The precise recollection of his own family-love, parental and marital, is vital to him; it is the matter in which the saving truth is incarnate. . . . Pigeon Feathers is not just a book of very brilliant short stories; it is a demonstration of how the most gifted writer of his generation is coming to maturity; it shows us that Mr. Updike’s fine verbal talent is no longer pirouetting, however gracefully, out of a simple delight in motion, but is beginning to serve his deepest insight.”](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-ezptpblrxu/images/stencil/500x659/products/1019/1658/PigeonsStories__64020.1660081010.jpg?c=2 "When this classic collection of stories first appeared—in 1962, on the author’s thirtieth birthday—Arthur Mizener wrote in The New York Times Book Review: “Updike is a romantic [and] like all American romantics, that is, he has an irresistible impulse to go in memory home again in order to find himself. . . . The precise recollection of his own family-love, parental and marital, is vital to him; it is the matter in which the saving truth is incarnate. . . . Pigeon Feathers is not just a book of very brilliant short stories; it is a demonstration of how the most gifted writer of his generation is coming to maturity; it shows us that Mr. Updike’s fine verbal talent is no longer pirouetting, however gracefully, out of a simple delight in motion, but is beginning to serve his deepest insight.”")
