Review
"...a welcome addition to Kafka scholarship." Germanic Notes and Reviews

"This collection of essays holds true to the promise of its title: it is a trustworthy and helpful companion for those, be they scholar or afficianado, who seek up-to-date and well-considered observations on the writings of one of the 20th century's greatest but most enigmatic writers.... [A]ll of the contributions are first-rate: they are written clearly and persuasively with authority and sophistication, and they represent a broad specturm of critical approaches." Choice

"The Cambridge Companions to Literature series enjoys a well-deserved reputation for scholarly excellence. The volume on Kafka, happily, is no exception to the rule.... The single best thing about the volume, indeed, is the willingness (and the ability) of almost all of its contributors to break away from comfortably traditional critical judgments.... This excellent volume does not claim to present us with any master keys that might serve to unlock [Kafka's] secrets; rather, it challenges us, as the best criticism always does, to return to the text with new eyes, new expectations, and a willingness to see things differently." German Studies Review


Book Description
This Companion of specially-commissioned essays offers a comprehensive account of his life and work, providing a rounded contemporary appraisal of Central Europe's most distinctive Modernist. Contributions cover all the key texts, and discuss Kafka's writing in a variety of critical contexts such as feminism, deconstruction, psychoanalysis, Marxism, and Jewish studies. The essays are enhanced by supplementary material including a chronology of the period and detailed guides to further reading. They will be of interest to students of German, European and Comparative Literature, and Jewish Studies.

FROM THE PUBLISHER