A Hunger Artist

By Franz Kafka

Book Overview

A Hunger Artist (Ein Hungerk nstler) by Franz Kafka is one of the most profound and unsettling stories of twentieth-century literature. Written in 1922 and published in 1924, it tells the story of a professional faster who makes his art of starvation a public performance. Once admired, he becomes forgotten as society moves on, leaving him trapped between devotion and invisibility. Kafka's prose is precise, controlled, and haunting, capturing the tension between purity and recognition, spirit and flesh, creation and decay.

This timeless allegory stands as one of Kafka's final masterpieces, a reflection on the cost of artistic integrity and the loneliness of misunderstood genius. The hunger artist's cage becomes a symbol of alienation, endurance, and the conflict between the individual and the crowd. With its piercing clarity and philosophical depth, A Hunger Artist continues to challenge readers to confront the nature of art, suffering, and self-sacrifice in the modern age.

An essential classic of modernist and existential literature, presented here in a clear and faithful English translation. Perfect for readers of Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, this edition preserves Kafka's unique rhythm and precision.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 191830551X
• ISBN13: 9781918305517
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Lost Book Project
• Length: 26 Pages
• Weight: 0.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Kafka is a dream

If you have read Kafka you won't need my advice. But if you haven't, I recommend you to buy this book, "A Hunger Artist" is an incredibly impressive short story. It plays with reality and imagination and at the end it all seems like a dream. Also take a look at Kafka's diaries.