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The Kafka Effekt
D. Harlan Wilson's debut book is a collection of 44 stories that was among the original enclave of fiction spurring the Bizarro movement in literature at the turn of the twenty-first century. According to the U.K. magazine Dazed & Confused, Bizarro authors are "the bastard sons of William Burroughs and Dr. Seuss, picking up where the cyberpunks left off," and The Kafka Effekt is a hallmark of this formation, which continues to grow and generate interest from authors and readers. Irreal, intelligent, funny and scatological, these stories turn reality inside out and expose it as a grotesque, nightmarish machine.
The Kafka Effekt includes the story "The Cocktail Party," which was adapted into a short, rotoscoped film. Directed by Brandon Duncan, the film won multiple awards and was an Official Selection at Comic-Con in 2007.
The Kafka Effekt includes the story "The Cocktail Party," which was adapted into a short, rotoscoped film. Directed by Brandon Duncan, the film won multiple awards and was an Official Selection at Comic-Con in 2007.
216 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2001
4 people are currently reading
245 people want to read
About the author
D. Harlan Wilson
70 books346 followersD. Harlan Wilson is an American novelist, critic, editor, playwright, and college professor. His body of work bridges the aesthetics of literary and film theory with various genres of speculative fiction. Recent books include
Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination: A Critical Companion
(2022),
Minority Report
(2022),
Jackanape and the Fingermen
(2021),
Outré
(2020),
The Psychotic Dr. Schreber
(2019),
Natural Complexions
(2018), and
J.G. Ballard
(2017).
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
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April 5, 2009“This collection, simply stated, encouraged me to use parts of my brain that I don’t think I’ve used since my teenage years. It reopens the mind to the discussion of existence while encouraging and entertaining the profound powers of the imagination. I mean this as the highest compliment to D. Harlan Wilson when I say that, in The Kafka Effekt, he shows himself to be a Dr. Seuss for adults. He is clearly encouraging us to push to new levels of thought and imagination—only in this case the Hat is in the Cat.” Wildclown Chronicle
"D. Harlan Wilson has built a strange body of work. For most emerging writers that statement might be a kiss of death, but not for him. Wilson's intelligence and razor wit separate his writing from the ignorant vulgarity that too often passes for originality in today's liturature. In his short story collection, The Kafka Effekt, strangeness becomes a weapon. These stories are masterpieces of the absurd, both darkly funny and tragic. Wilson leads his readers through a surreal world with each one. And though he is far from the first author to do that, Wilson's skill in maintaining the delicate balance between chaos and meaning is what makes his writing enjoyable." Waystation Review
"D. Harlan Wilson has built a strange body of work. For most emerging writers that statement might be a kiss of death, but not for him. Wilson's intelligence and razor wit separate his writing from the ignorant vulgarity that too often passes for originality in today's liturature. In his short story collection, The Kafka Effekt, strangeness becomes a weapon. These stories are masterpieces of the absurd, both darkly funny and tragic. Wilson leads his readers through a surreal world with each one. And though he is far from the first author to do that, Wilson's skill in maintaining the delicate balance between chaos and meaning is what makes his writing enjoyable." Waystation Review
December 31, 2011
In my reading of The Kafka Effekt, I detected the distinct influence of Herman Melville and a few other, mostly dead, assholes. Oh, and hints of Steve Aylett too.
That’s a joke.
Esoteric joking aside, I enjoyed this collection of surreal, nightmarish, often-funny short stories. Cartloads of strangeness here, including walls that dress themselves in corduroy suits, a clown face-shaped conference room with no exits, a reflection of sorts on the psychosocial dynamics of shy bladder syndrome, an Adonis who doesn’t look so good up close, and gigantic hors d’oevres that snack on humans. Throughout these stories there’s also a recurrence of handlebar mustaches, human skin suits, people disappearing through trapdoors, and self-conscious stage performers who often kill their audiences; not to mention a veritable army of sentient, monstrous, repurposed, or else outright rebellious body parts.
In subverting traditional storytelling notions of logic, meaning, and motive, each story in this collection is held together by its own internal sense of logic (or internal nonsense of illogic). For me, the overall feel of the book is like a blending of the literary nonsense of Lewis Caroll with the darker sensibilities of such postmodern writers as Beckett and Burroughs. Kafka’s in there too, of course.
My favorites in the collection include “Beneath the Husband,” “The Man and I,” “Stagefright,” “Look’d Too Near,” “The Beef Tips,” and “Story on the Sphere.”
That’s a joke.
Esoteric joking aside, I enjoyed this collection of surreal, nightmarish, often-funny short stories. Cartloads of strangeness here, including walls that dress themselves in corduroy suits, a clown face-shaped conference room with no exits, a reflection of sorts on the psychosocial dynamics of shy bladder syndrome, an Adonis who doesn’t look so good up close, and gigantic hors d’oevres that snack on humans. Throughout these stories there’s also a recurrence of handlebar mustaches, human skin suits, people disappearing through trapdoors, and self-conscious stage performers who often kill their audiences; not to mention a veritable army of sentient, monstrous, repurposed, or else outright rebellious body parts.
In subverting traditional storytelling notions of logic, meaning, and motive, each story in this collection is held together by its own internal sense of logic (or internal nonsense of illogic). For me, the overall feel of the book is like a blending of the literary nonsense of Lewis Caroll with the darker sensibilities of such postmodern writers as Beckett and Burroughs. Kafka’s in there too, of course.
My favorites in the collection include “Beneath the Husband,” “The Man and I,” “Stagefright,” “Look’d Too Near,” “The Beef Tips,” and “Story on the Sphere.”
October 9, 2008
Stranger on the Loose is an instant cult classic and an excellent follow-up to Wilson's first collection The Kafka Effekt, taking many of the same themes and pushing them further. With more longer stories, Stranger on the Loose satisfies that craving for a sustainable madness in us all.
For those not familiar with Wilson's darkly wry and totally absurd world view Stranger is more than an introduction, it's an immersion. Take for example "The Ostensibly Immortal Piece of Bread" which recounts the plight of a man who finds that he has purchased a piece of bread that never molds. Naturally he must exact revenge upon the baker who sold him this abomination and that entails, among other things, dressing up as a bag lady. Once again Wilson has thrust his characters in hopelessly futile and meaningless situations fraught with plenty of dangers to their ego that make you want to grind your teeth and giggle at the same time.
No one captures the absurdity of modern life like Wilson and no one makes up better phony sounding names. Some of my favorites were Pickering Dymentcha, Rakehell Bartleberry and Derillict Hagadorn. Crafting nonsensical stories that really make you think and feel has got to be difficult but Wilson pulls it off with flair down to the smallest details.
For those not familiar with Wilson's darkly wry and totally absurd world view Stranger is more than an introduction, it's an immersion. Take for example "The Ostensibly Immortal Piece of Bread" which recounts the plight of a man who finds that he has purchased a piece of bread that never molds. Naturally he must exact revenge upon the baker who sold him this abomination and that entails, among other things, dressing up as a bag lady. Once again Wilson has thrust his characters in hopelessly futile and meaningless situations fraught with plenty of dangers to their ego that make you want to grind your teeth and giggle at the same time.
No one captures the absurdity of modern life like Wilson and no one makes up better phony sounding names. Some of my favorites were Pickering Dymentcha, Rakehell Bartleberry and Derillict Hagadorn. Crafting nonsensical stories that really make you think and feel has got to be difficult but Wilson pulls it off with flair down to the smallest details.
August 11, 2011
D. Harlan Wilson, I have a question for you: what have you done to the short story?
I just finished your collection, "The Kafka Effekt" and I want to know who you think you are and where have you been all this time?
These stories are unlike anything I have ever read before (I find myself saying that a lot these days, now that I am so heavily into Bizarro Fiction, but even for Bizarro, this stuff is weird).
In these pages, I came across a man with a baby butt surgically grafted to his face, a man in a concrete hat who does unspeakable things to homemade pillows, A female Serial rapist/killer who stands idly by whilst her boyfriend goes through horrible changes against a wall, and a man who does not want to be told what to do by human-sized hors d'oeuvres.
Yep. All that and more. I had read Wilson's book "Peckinpah" before, and enjoyed it immensely, but even that splash of highly-violent experimental lit. could not prepare me for this amazing collection. Wilson is the true avant garde,a master of his own world, and a bonafide original.
Reading his work is like drinking a pan-galactic gargle blaster after punching several strangers in the face.
In other words: it is a good way to spend the day.
I just finished your collection, "The Kafka Effekt" and I want to know who you think you are and where have you been all this time?
These stories are unlike anything I have ever read before (I find myself saying that a lot these days, now that I am so heavily into Bizarro Fiction, but even for Bizarro, this stuff is weird).
In these pages, I came across a man with a baby butt surgically grafted to his face, a man in a concrete hat who does unspeakable things to homemade pillows, A female Serial rapist/killer who stands idly by whilst her boyfriend goes through horrible changes against a wall, and a man who does not want to be told what to do by human-sized hors d'oeuvres.
Yep. All that and more. I had read Wilson's book "Peckinpah" before, and enjoyed it immensely, but even that splash of highly-violent experimental lit. could not prepare me for this amazing collection. Wilson is the true avant garde,a master of his own world, and a bonafide original.
Reading his work is like drinking a pan-galactic gargle blaster after punching several strangers in the face.
In other words: it is a good way to spend the day.
December 11, 2008
i was looking through a list of d. harlan wilson's books when i realized i'd read one... this one, to be precise. i gave it 3 stars because i did like it... maybe i just didn't love it. short stories are hard, and they weren't bad. i think the title actually put me into a very specific mindset of what i'd be reading. kafka is my favorite of all writers, and i'm often saddened by how little there is to consume of his writings. i saw the name of this book and was instantly excited. wilson does not channel kafka. he is not a bad writer, but my preconceptions got in the way of me enjoying this one more. still, as i said, short stories are hard. he doesn't mess them up. read them, just know you will not be reading kafka when you read them.
March 26, 2011
This is a fantastic collection of the most surreal, offbeat stories in the ilk of no author I have ever read, and completely entertaining. I rarely finish a short story collection, so that should speak for itself. Bizare.
Currently reading
December 26, 2022Fairly certain that a copy of this text arrived in the mail addressed to me & I sold it, unread, to the local used book shop to afford my degenerate proclivities only to years later use my unused used book credit to regain the same copy. It sat on my shelf for three different houses before I began frantically selling all the books, being unhoused. I chose to read this while waiting for the other tomes to be weighed against the boughs of holly which I could not afford.
I like it so far. Hope to finish it soon and write a proper view re:reading vs not reading; living vs pantomiming.
I like it so far. Hope to finish it soon and write a proper view re:reading vs not reading; living vs pantomiming.
December 30, 2009
Each story was individually quite awesome, but as a collection I found this too jarring to read for any period of time - I tended to pick this up and read a story or four when I was weary of the book I was inhaling at the time. It worked out quite nice, which is cool, since I so wanted to give this a chance, but was having big difficulty reading it in my "normal" fashion.
Wilson is beyond incredible, beyond fantastic, beyond Thunderdome.
Wilson is beyond incredible, beyond fantastic, beyond Thunderdome.
September 21, 2014
Do you want to know the truth of Humpty Dumpty. Maybe read about a lobster eyeball, feet that eats it's owner, public urination, spiders that eat meatballs or fetus-flesh styled trench coats.
Will it's all packed together tight between these pages. D. Harlan Wilson's debut story collection. A book I own and one day will demand someone to read.
Top two stories Bed Head & Brain my other favorites; Inside The Tin Man, Babyface, Feet & The Cocktail Party.
Will it's all packed together tight between these pages. D. Harlan Wilson's debut story collection. A book I own and one day will demand someone to read.
Top two stories Bed Head & Brain my other favorites; Inside The Tin Man, Babyface, Feet & The Cocktail Party.
May 19, 2008
great collection from a great writer
Want to read
October 24, 2008What an awesome title/cover!
Read
July 31, 2009Better than acid.
May 10, 2020
One of my favorite books, period.
December 18, 2022
I probably would've liked this when I was 15, but sadly this sort of random nonsense is not for the older, crustier version of me.
Read
February 24, 2023DNF. Not for me.
November 22, 2007
I read a review that sounded pretty interesting.
June 11, 2009
i love this book. there aren't enough things like it.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews