Franz Kafka's father was a successful businessman in Prague, Czechoslovakia The city's elite was German-speaking, and for this reason the young Kafka was educated at German rather than Czech schools He eventually graduated with a law degree from the German University in Prague in 1906. He took a position in a workers' accident insurance firm which he held for fifteen years. Diagnosed as suffering from tuberculosis in 1917, Kafka continued working at the company until ill health forced him to retire in 1922. He died two years later at a sanatorium in Vienna.

These brief facts of Kafka's life conceal much of the emotional turmoil he suffered. His diaries and correspondence show that he was obsessed with a perceived conflict between family life and artistic integrity. A diary entry from 1912 reads: "When it became clear in my organism that writing was the most productive direction for ray being to...