3 Review(s)

This book is Jonathan Franzen’s take on the Viennese satirist, Karl Kraus. Karl Kraus was a powerful and prophetic writer who was not known to many people as many were not familiar with his work. Here, Franzen gives readers his own personal view of Kraus and his writings. Summary of the Book Kraus was one of the greatest European writers who, with this book, has found his match in Franzen. The book can be seen as the confrontation of a pronounced American writer with a famous European writer. Karl Kraus is said to be a powerful writer who was a critic to media’s influence on reality, the degrading machinery of technology and consumerism, and the patriotism of a fading empire. His followers may have included Franz Kafka and Walter Benjamin, but he still remained unfamiliar to most of the world. There are very few people who know anything about him and Jonathan Franzen is one of them. This book is a presentation of Franzen’s translations of Kraus’ writings. It also contains supplementary notes from the Kraus scholar, Paul Reitter, and the Austrian writer, Daniel Kehlmann. Like Kraus, Franzen is not afraid to voice his opinions and is seen as someone who could give us clarity on Kraus’ arguments. About Jonathan Franzen Jonathan Franzen is an American novelist and essayist. He writes for The New Yorker magazine. His most recent novel, Freedom, led to his appearance on the cover of Time magazine with the headline “Great American Novelist”.