Publisher's Synopsis

Karl Rossman has been banished by his parents to America, following a family scandal. There, with unquenchable optimism, he throws himself into the strange experiences that lie before him as he slowly makes his way into the interior of the great continent.

Although Kafka's first novel (begun in 1911 and never finished), can be read as a menacing allegory of modern life, it is also infused with a quite un-Kafkaesque blitheness and sunniness, brought to life in this lyrical translation that returns to the original manuscript of the book.

Book information

ISBN: 9780241372586
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint: Penguin Classics
Pub date:
Edition: Reprint
DEWEY: 833.912
DEWEY edition: 23
Language: English
Number of pages: 256
Weight: 196g
Height: 199mm
Width: 131mm
Spine width: 15mm