The Kafka Studies Department

by Francis Levy

From Francis Levy, author of Seven Days in Rio, which The New York Times called "a fever dream of a novel," comes The Kafka Studies Department, a highly original collection of short, parable-like stories infused with dark humor, intellect, and insight about the human condition. While the book's style is deceptively simple and aphoristic, it carries a hallucinatory moral message. A prism of interconnected and intertwined tales, inspired by Kafka, the stories examine feckless central characters who are far from likable, but always recognizable and wildly human. "Knowledge is not power, power is not power. Life is irrational or accidental or both. We drift victims, victimizers. A collection for our time." -Joan Baum, NPR "A collection of bleak and amusing literary short stories from Levy...A dark, sometimes funny, meditation on the absurd trials of life." - Kirkus Reviews
"Francis Levy has an unhampered, endearingly maverick imagination-as if Donald Barthelme had met up with Maimonides and, together, they decided to write about the world as it appeared to them. These deceptively simple and parable-like stories are full of wily pleasures and irreverent wisdom about everything from the failure of insight to make anything happen, to the subtle gratifications of friendship, to the tragicomedy of eros."-Daphne Merkin, author of This Close to Happy and 22 Minutes of Unconditional Love "Francis Levy's fiction is knowing but never instructive. His characters inhabit a twilight zone where the lines blur between dream and waking, familiar and surreal, inevitability and surprise." -Rocco Landesman, Broadway producer and former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts "The Kafka Studies Department is not about academia. It's about anomie, and...what's really going on with people. Of course (since it's Levy) it's about sex. Kafka's shadow is everywhere." -David Kirkpatrick, journalist and author of The Facebook Effect
"A startling collection of thirty literary gems deftly illustrated by Hallie Cohen into dreamy sketches, which perfectly suit the tone of the work. Initially it seems like these stories are fed into a kind of a magical Kafka Cuisinart where they come out tightly sealed, hilariously ironic, and occasionally mysterious...modern parables that have the makings of mini-masterpieces." -Arthur Nersesian, author of The Five Books of Moses and The Fuck-Up

Genres: Short Stories, Philosophy

112 pages, Paperback

Published September 26, 2023

About the author

Francis Levy (born March 28, 1948) is the author of the comic novels Erotomania: A Romance, published by Two Dollar Radio in 2008 and subsequently translated in a Spanish edition by Tusquets Editores in 2009, and Seven Days in Rio, published by Two Dollar Radio in 2011. Levy is also the co-founder of the Philoctetes Center for the Multidisciplinary Study of Imagination. He has been profiled in The East Hampton Star, AIGA Voice, Nerve.com, and elsewhere.
Levy's debut novel, Erotomania: A Romance, a satirical examination of compulsive sexuality, was a Queerty Top 10 Book of 2008 and named a Standout Book of the Year by Inland Empire Weekl. Erotomania was reviewed in The Village Voice, The Los Angeles Times, Publishers Weekly, Time Out Chicago and elsewhere. Levy's short stories, poems, criticism, and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, The Village Voice, The East Hampton Star, The Quarterly, and Evergreen Review. The journal American Imago published a long autobiographical essay about Levy's psychoanalytic treatment entitled "Psychoanalysis: The Patient’s Cure” in its Spring 2010 issue. Levy blogs as The Screaming Pope.

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from Goodreads, here is my review. It was a book with short stories about the human condition . Some of the stories were quite interesting and it was a very quick read. It’s definitely not the type of book I would have picked out for myself . It made me think and I gave it 4 stars

[Jeanne Levy-Church · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Kafka Studies Department is a brilliant collection of short stories beautifully illustrated by Hallie Cohen. The stories are quite short yet beautifully structured and incredibly impactful. Levy portrays these small almost invisible moments where characters find themselves feeling disoriented lost or disappointed-fortunes change quickly but artfully in these stories--in the Awakening for example a husband works hard to get his wife to be more active, more ambitious--when she finally attains these qualities through an awakening she no longer wants her husband who begins to sadly understand "her helplessness had served a purpose." It is in these psychological shifts in the stories that we see the pathos of the characters so vividly--as in the Night Man--where Joe, the Night Man retires feeling totally lost after realizing he won't see Missy again--a woman he had known since her childhood--yet there was no real relationship between Joe and Missy. She never said much " but the intimacy of knowing her secrets held out hope." It is in these profoundly poignant moments where Levy captures the way his characters struggle to communicate with each other and with themselves that are so impactful. In The Company History four children recovering from the trauma of their mother's death are finally freed from their step mother only to find themselves "unable to reach out to each other in ways that could perpetuate family unity." Another story Critical Mass describes the break up of two women friends--both friends go to Prague since that is a city they both love--when they run into each other they are instantly happy yet pride doesn't allow them to connect with each other. Levy's stories capture the poignancy of the human condition in ways that are irreverent and playful yet also incredibly sad and in some cases tragic. In addition to everything else these stories are a joy to read!

[Deborah]

I received a complimentary copy of THE KAFKA STUDIES DEPARTMENT by Francis Levy as part of a TLC Book Tours scheduled tour. Thank you to the author, Heliotrope Books, and TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read this story collection!

THE KAFKA STUDIES DEPARTMENT is a collection of thirty short stories, described in the synopsis as “short, parable-like stories infused with dark humor, intellect, and insight about the human condition”. The stories are inspired by Kafka as the title would imply, each with a different, but interconnected take. These are very short stories occuring over a very limited number of pages (the entire collection is only 110 pages), but they pack a quick but solid punch. Throughout the collection are sketches by Hallie Cohen which add to the collection as well.

The collection opens with the titular short story, a literal Kafka Studies Department in a university that has fallen on hard, possibly Kafka-esque hard times. It at first seems a pretty simple story about the department, but I really enjoyed the twist that the author subtly threw in to the ending which of course I can’t tell you!

The stories take on a lot of subjects familiar and strange. “As I Lay Down” looks at the moment on the edge of sleep where the brainstorms hit with thoughts forgotten upon waking. “Profit/Loss” examines family dynamics, the good and the bad, and the impact of expectations. Each has an interesting take on even the most familiar.

My knowledge of Kafka is sadly limited to having read and enjoyed THE METAMORPHOSIS a few times across my literary studies, but a knowledge of Kafka isn’t required to appreciate this collection! It has been a good book to pick up for a couple quick stories in between some of my longer reads which I love to add to my TBR each month!

[Donald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rush to click on Amazon or Barnes and Noble and buy Francis Levy’s compilation of short stories, “The Kafka Studies Department.” Although for family reasons, I have minimal time to read books, I finished this one in one sitting and intend to read it again because of the wisdom it contains on life’s follies, fears, and foibles and the universal angst we all share about life’s disappointments, ultimate recognition that successes may not mean as much as we were led to believe, and a desire to gain forgiveness for our serious transgressions against others.

The book in its entirety provides a lens to understand life, much like Shakespeare’s plays, but instead, written in Kafkaesque style, tight and taught.

If you want to seriously want to understand the meaning of life as we reach old age and through very enjoyable and even funny tales, do read this book. Since each story is but a few pages long, it’s not hard to do.

Great writers write great first sentences. Check out these:

“Fred was so devoid of ideas he couldn’t get up in the morning.”

“Many years after Freida stopped seducing the husbands of her best friends, she set out to find the people she had hurt.”

“His family was like the company that was the object of a takeover bid.”

“Experience was something you photographed.”

“Spector lived for the day he would prove himself to all the people who had ever distained him.”

Do these sentences catch your interest? They surely caught mine and their promise was met in the reading.

Buy “The Kafka Studies Department,” one of the best short story compilations by a single author I have read in a long time, and I think the jewel of Francis Levy’s body of work.

[Becky • bookmarked by becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Francis Levy’s short story collection captures rarely written-about human moments. We all have them: trying to find yourself and failing, when best-laid plans end up being the worst plan, and desperately wanting a redo button. These moments can be dark, but Levy writes them playfully with dark humor. Some of the stories are short, maybe two pages, but that brevity doesn’t lack a deep understanding of the human condition, offering teaching moments to the tragic side of greed, pride, power, envy, ambition, and lust. I often left thinking: be careful what you wish for.

A few of my favorites from the collection:
✨Sprinter: complaining about life, then wanting it back when it’s gone.
✨Profit/Loss: feels like the result of helicopter parenting
✨Trust: anxiety-fueled spiral, which I think many people have to varying degrees
✨Company History: Reap what you sow, children. I had no sympathy for the way these children treated their stepmother.
✨Breasts: Hilarious, and @halliecohen illustration is perfect!
✨The Heavy: much deeper than friends losing touch - this one made me sad.

Highly recommend this collection to any short story lover, someone who wants to try a short story collection for the first time, or anyone who wants a quirky exploration of the seven deadly sins.

[Mike Avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of The Kafka Studies Department from the author, Francis Levy. This is a small book of thirty very short stories. Each one is a tale in which things are not what they seem, reminiscent of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone. Behavior that was popular becomes unpopular. People who are successful become unsuccessful. A community that nourishes becomes claustrophobic. An actor with good intentions achieves the opposite. A man awakens his torpid wife’s interest in life only for her to leave him. Ironically, the seeds of unintended consequences are always present in the initial propagation of the story.

Levy writes with precision. No unnecessary words, but many a turn of phrase that delights. The first sentence of each story is compelling. One of my favorites, The Healer, begins, “Many years after Frieda stopped seducing the husbands of her best friends, she set out to find the people she had hurt.” You have to read on. Another favorite, “This family was like the company that is the object of a takeover bid.”

You can reread these stories over and over and still find twists in Levy’s imagination that surprise and bewilder. Let’s hope there are more coming.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading these short stories was like finishing a delicious meal, and being one bite away rom feeling satiated.

Don’t get me wrong, I mean this in a good way. I feel like authors take one of two directions when writing short stories, (1) writing a well rounded full story in minimal words, or (2) writing something that leaves you wanting more, but ultimately forcing your mind to reel around what you just read and where it may go... These stories are the latter.

The stories I enjoyed most were Trust, we can so often get carried away with our internal dialogue; The Sprinter, I have so many questions; As I Lay Down, never put off what you can do tomorrow - or I mean now?; and A Splendid Dish, I despise men like Mayer and love endings like this.

These stories are quirky, insightful, parable-like oddities that are best consumed one at a time for maximum enjoyment. Idea for those that like weird fiction, short stories, and books that focus on the absurdity of life.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for the gifted copy.

[Nona Hershey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Francis Levy has given the Seven Deadly Sins new life. I think it's very courageous to write so vividly about cowardly avoidance - and delusions.
He is masterful at mulling over the 'enormity of minutia'- the regrets that haunt us- and the resentment that hovers just below the surface. I found the premise in The Afterlife, that "self-undoing lost its allure" promising! Maybe there's hope after all...
As disturbing as it is to read the kind of rawness of isolation he portrays so vividly, it's also quite consoling to see it put out there as cogently as he manages to do. Ironically there's a reassuring inclusiveness in the telling.
Hallie Cohen's drawings are all marvelous. I'm particularly partial to the wispy figures of Radio and Good Times, that stabbing fork-dagger in A Splendid Dish, and the bookshelves in Afterlife!

[Kristens.reading.nook · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was like a weird fever dream. The VERY short stories (a couple of pages each) follow multiple characters at first and then finally settle on a guy named Spector for the last half of the book. Each story is somewhat inter-connected all focusing on some aspect of the human condition. They are fairly dark which may turn some people off, this reader included. I prefer happy, light stories.

There was one story titled “Collectors” that resonated with me. It was all about taking pictures to preserve memories versus being present in the moment. As a mom this is something I have wrestled with a lot.

Rating:
⭐️⭐️.5

Read if you like:
Very short inter-connected short stories
Steam of consciousness type flow
Philosophy

Thank you TLC Book Tours and Heliotrope Books for the gifted copy.

[Nina Rosenblum · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Kafka Studies Department is a marvelous collection of short stories with wonderful illustrations by Hallie Cohen. Francis Levy captures the multitude of emotions that we all feel, with poignant moments that keep the reader engrossed, laughing, sad, and always engaged. The ins and outs of everyday life are beautifully expressed in these short stories, which always ring true and keep you glued to the pages, due to the wonderful writing of Francis Levy.

[karen katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection of short stories. Frank Levy writes about the craziness we sometimes see under the surface of other people’s lives. The characters in each story have quirks that make them both lovable and pitiful. His writing is unusual, funny and surprising. The illustrations, by Hallie Cohen, are beautiful and mysterious. If you want to read something different, pick up this book.
Karen Katz

[Ellis Oppenheim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2023
A friggin smart writer! Francis Levy’s best book to date! Intelligent, fun, wonderfully written and each story gets one thinking. Totally Kafkaesque with a wink. And Hallie Cohen’s illustrations capture Levy’s tone and texture throughout. A great read!

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

"" Goodreads Giveaway

I'm not smart enough to understand all the nuances and whatnot of these stories but I know it was an enjoyable read. I was very impressed that a story with maybe 2-3 pages could express so much. I found myself filling in background or speculating what happened afterwards, in doing that it felt like the stories were much longer.

[Arthur L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

One cannot resist enjoying Francis Ley's "The Kafka Studies Department", a unique collection of short and engaging episodes, which are fast moving, perceptive, humanistic and well written