Description:Having died a month short of his 40th birthday, Franz Kafka is seen by some critics as having been on the threshold of a greater art than he had displayed earlier in his career. Examined in this text are Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," "The Judgement," "In the Penal Colony," "A Hunger Artist," and "Josephine the Singer and the Mousefolk." This series is edited by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University; Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Professor of English, New York University Graduate School; preeminent literary critic of our time. The world’s most prominent writers of short stories are covered in one series with expert analysis by Bloom and other critics. These titles contain a wealth of information on the writers and short stories that are most commonly read in high schools, colleges, and universities.