The Metamorphosis: The Illustrated Edition

Adapted by Peter Kuper
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**Named by School Library Journal as one of the Best Adult Books for High School Students, 2003

A brilliant, darkly comic reimagining of Kafka’s classic tale of family, alienation, and a giant bug.

Acclaimed graphic artist Peter Kuper presents a kinetic illustrated adaptation of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. Kuper’s electric drawings—where American cartooning meets German expressionism—bring Kafka’s prose to vivid life, reviving the original story’s humor and poignancy in a way that will surprise and delight readers of Kafka and graphic novels alike.

"...a faithful and compelling adaptation....[Kuper] ably draws out both the horrific and the humorous elements of the story in his black-and-white scratchboard illustrations, which are cartoonish and expressionistic, with heavily detailed backgrounds. This book can act as an excellent introduction to the original....Recommended...." —Library Journal
  • WINNER
    School Library Journal Adult Books for Young Adults
© Courtesy of Schocken Books

FRANZ KAFKA was born in 1883 in Prague, where he lived most of his life. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories, including “The Metamorphosis,” “The Judgment,” and “The Stoker.” He died in 1924, before completing any of his full-length novels. At the end of his life, Kafka asked his lifelong friend and literary executor Max Brod to burn all his unpublished work. Brod overrode those wishes.

View titles by Franz Kafka

About

**Named by School Library Journal as one of the Best Adult Books for High School Students, 2003

A brilliant, darkly comic reimagining of Kafka’s classic tale of family, alienation, and a giant bug.

Acclaimed graphic artist Peter Kuper presents a kinetic illustrated adaptation of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. Kuper’s electric drawings—where American cartooning meets German expressionism—bring Kafka’s prose to vivid life, reviving the original story’s humor and poignancy in a way that will surprise and delight readers of Kafka and graphic novels alike.

"...a faithful and compelling adaptation....[Kuper] ably draws out both the horrific and the humorous elements of the story in his black-and-white scratchboard illustrations, which are cartoonish and expressionistic, with heavily detailed backgrounds. This book can act as an excellent introduction to the original....Recommended...." —Library Journal

Awards

  • WINNER
    School Library Journal Adult Books for Young Adults

Author

© Courtesy of Schocken Books

FRANZ KAFKA was born in 1883 in Prague, where he lived most of his life. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories, including “The Metamorphosis,” “The Judgment,” and “The Stoker.” He died in 1924, before completing any of his full-length novels. At the end of his life, Kafka asked his lifelong friend and literary executor Max Brod to burn all his unpublished work. Brod overrode those wishes.

View titles by Franz Kafka