Author(s): Roberto Calasso

Literature

What are Kafka's stories about? Are they dreams? Allegories? Symbols? Things that happen every day? But where and when?

In this remarkable book, Roberto Calasso sets out not to dispel the mystery but to let it be illuminated by its own light. With his unique vision, imagination, and intellectual acumen, Calasso attempts to enter the flow, the tortuous movement, the physiology of the stories to discover what they are meant to signify and to delve into the most basic question: Who is K.?

Review: "Extraordinarily rich... Remarkable" * Financial Times *
"A product of great love and deep immersion" * Observer *
"Finely expressed, thoughtful readings... what strikes one most is their justice and tact" * Independent *
"Offers exceptional insights: Calasso's reading of Kafka's diaries is inspired" * Scotland on Sunday *

"For those who aren't acquainted with Kafka, Calasso's book is a practical and exciting introduction. For those who are, it is an irresistible invitation to reread him and once more measure his greatness - this time with the sharp-eyed complicity of a brilliant investigator - Carlo Fruttero, Panorama"Author Biography: Roberto Calasso was born in Florence in 1941. An author and publisher, he began working at Adelphi Edizioni from its founding in 1962 and continued as director for fifty years. The Book of All Books is the tenth part of a series that began with The Ruin of Kasch and includes the international bestseller The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony as well as Ka, K., Tiepolo Pink, La Folie Baudelaire, Ardor, The Celestial Hunter and The Unnamable Present. He died in Milan in 2021.