An introductory guest post at Beauty is a Sleeping Cat
November is German Literature Month and there has already been a lot going on at blogs such as Beauty is a Sleeping Cat. The first part of my own contribution went up as a guest post on that excellent blog as an introduction to the Prague German writers and prelude to some profiles and reviews that will be appearing throughout the month, both there and on literalab.
The first of these profile/reviews will be posted on Beauty is a Sleeping Cat tomorrow and to see who the writer is and read it you’ll have to tune in then. I’ll give you a few hints though: he was Jewish and deeply conflicted about this, neurotic (I guess I already said he was Jewish, but . .), he had major authority issues with his father growing up, and the less said about his love life the better.
Yes, I know what you’re thinking, but no, it’s not me. How lame would that be to profile myself. And no, it’s not Kafka either. But though sussing out the differences between these writers is very interesting there is no question that they also shared a lot of similar experiences and issues and that though many of us are familiar with these through the prism of Kafka’s work, they were just as vital to his friends and contemporaries.
That’s not to say that you will be introduced to a story of a salesman waking up one day transformed into a bug and it being a kind of a good thing. Then again, who knows.
Photo – from The Golem by Gustav Meyrink (1916), illustration by Hugo Steiner-Prag
literalab 
I’m very curious to find out if people know and still read the “mysterious author” who is the focus of tomorrow’s post.
I haven’t heard many encouraging things, in a large part, I think, because people don’t know what it is they would be reading and are put off from the outset. I could be wrong though.
I think the book you reviewed might find a few new readers. We will see.
I hope so, because more than most of the books I review it’s one I can recommend unreservedly for just about anyone.