David Zane Mairowitz's brilliant text and the illustrations and comic  panels of the world's greatest cartoonist, Robert Crumb (himself no  stranger to self-loathing and alienation), help us to understand the  essence of Kafka and provide insight beyond the cliché "Kafkaesque,"  peering through Kafka's glass wall like no other book before it. The  book is a wonderful educational tool for those unfamiliar with Kafka,  including a brief but inclusive biography as well as the plots of  many of his works, all illustrated by Crumb, making this newly  designed edition a must-have for admirers of both Kafka and Crumb.