Showing titles in Absurdist

As head of the crisis management team at a Madison Avenue PR firm, Leonard Lundell spends his days counseling executives whose reputations have been ruined by scandal. But Leonard has been managing a strange and debilitating crisis of his own that’s held him captive his entire adult life: Leonard likes to eat soap, pencils, paint chips—anything with no nutritional value. For years, he’s kept his compulsion hidden behind a professional veneer.

Metamorphosis is a novella written by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. One of Kafka's best-known works, Metamorphosis tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes one morning to find himself inexplicably transformed into a huge insect and subsequently struggles to adjust to this new condition. In popular culture and adaptations of the novella, the insect is commonly depicted as a cockroach.

"Das Schloss" - Kafkas Romanfragment - wurde erst im Jahre 1926, also nach dem Tod des Autoren, veröffentlicht. In typisch kafkaesker Manier wird darin vom Landvermesser K. erzählt, dessen einzige Aufgabe im Leben die zu sein scheint, das Schloss zu erreichen - immerhin wurde er von dort bestellt. Doch dies stellt sich als unüberwindliche Aufgabe dar.

Before Derek Christian became the confused hero, pawn of the universe, and reluctant cosmic adventurer of the Intergalactic novels, he was a simple copywriter at a radio station in Atlanta, WRFA: Radio Free America. This story tells how his writer's block set off a domino effect of murder and cosmic intrigue as The Fear chases him to his breaking point, and how he manages to escape into a world not of his own making.

Size matters. Or at least it does to Ed, nitpicking quantity surveyor and captain of his local pub football team who has faked a business trip abroad to get some cheap plastic surgery. Ed intends to be even more of a man upon his return. But has he managed to keep this as secret as he thinks? Will this really be such a wonderful surprise for Fiona on their wedding night? And just who is this operation for anyway?

Due anni, otto mesi e ventotto notti. Il tempo in cui le regole del mondo si rovesciano e strani, inspiegabili fenomeni iniziano ad accadere sulla terra: un giardiniere dal passato tormentato si alza una mattina levitando, un disegnatore di fumetti si trova obbligato allo scontro con il suo personaggio più riuscito, in una sala del municipio viene trovata una neonata dai poteri soprannaturali, un compositore lancia inquietanti profezie, e una giovane e seducente cacciatrice d'oro viene assoldata per una guerra al di là di ogni immaginazione.

As mankind races toward self-destruction through pollution due to indifference and negligence, there are people and forces of the earth trying to undo the damage. This story relates the world-encompassing journey of one person’s attempt to repair and off-set future damage through communication with endangered species as it carries you above; upon, and under the very earth that man seems bent on destroying.

Welcome to the Fiction on the Web audiobook series, featuring a collection of short stories with a different theme for each volume. Lovingly curated by the owner of Fiction On The Web, Charlie Fish. Come and share in the joy and power of short stories. The theme of this volume is Kafkaesque. You've probably heard of Franz Kafka even if you haven't read his books. You might even recognize his nightmarishly absurdist style. This volume explores a Kafkaesque world that's full of surprises.

Experienced Halloween haunters Ray and Getty have won the Samhain Award for their horrifying haunts for the last nine years. When their cheating rival Del Mondo breaks the rules and steals their 10th win, Ray and Getty must resort to the spookiest means necessary to reclaim their titles. In part two, the duo face the aftermath of their competition with Del as they shift from Halloween spooky to Christmas cheer in order for Ray to save his marriage and claim the crown of best holiday decorator in the land.

Воспаление мозгов — рассказ Михаила Булгакова, посвященный всем редакторам еженедельных журналов. В произведении рассказывается о том, как ошалевший от жары и голода писатель, вынужденный срочно написать историю для одного журнала, вступил в беседу с собственными мозгами. И вот что из этого вышло.

Ein Roman von Franz Kafka, gesprochen von Moritz Brendel. Im Mittelpunkt steht der Bankangestellte Josef K., gegen den ein Prozess anhängig ist. Das Gericht agiert im Geheimen, und bis zu seiner Hinrichtung erfährt K. nicht einmal den Grund der Anklage. Ort der Handlung ist eine fiktive deutsche Großstadt. Die Zeit der Handlung stimmt mit ihrer Entstehungszeit überein. Dennoch, die Welt, die er erschaffen hat, scheint weniger als andere literarische Welten an Zeit und Raum gebunden, obwohl sie fest in realistischer Schilderung fundiert ist und von dort immer wieder ins scheinbar Phantastische schweift.

Five mommies are just one misstep away from entry into the elite Pacific Heights Moms & Tots Club. Everyone has a scandalous secret to hide, but who will be the next to fall? With just four spots remaining, will the five remaining ladies turn cutthroat? Or will their newfound friendships be strong enough to help them band together?

Spring comes in like a lamb as the exclusive Pacific Heights Moms & Tots Club welcomes its newest members. But that tranquility belies a storm brewing as new tensions and old rivalries come to a head. The surviving moms are ready to reap the rewards of membership, but none of them counted on club founder, Bettina Connaught Cross, needing a pick-me-up from a bitter betrayal. While lesser women might cry into their pillows, Bettina finds comfort in exerting control over her domain.

The Pacific Heights Moms & Tots Club is the most exclusive children’s playgroup in all of San Francisco. For the city’s ultra-competitive elite, the club’s ten annual spots are the ultimate parenting prize. But not everyone is PHM&TC material. The club’s founder, Bettina Connaught Cross, adheres to strict membership rules: Moms only. No single parents or working mothers allowed. Membership is an arduous commitment. And there’s no room in the club for scandal, bad behavior, or imperfection…from tots or their moms.

A la protagonista de esta historia le diagnostican una enfermedad extrañísima y le dan 20% de posibilidades de sobrevivir. ¿Qué decide hacer con los últimos seis meses que le quedan? Escribir una novela. Empieza a planificarla y entiende que para tener material para escribirla necesita vivir nuevas experiencias: probar MDMA, robar, tirarse en parapente y tener sexo sadomasoquista. Pero no todo es tan sencillo. Entre desoladores mails a su ex, delirantes reacciones de su familia, una prima que le pide un favor inesperado y reflexiones sobre el feminismo, la trama estalla en un arco narrativo imposible de prever.

After accepting a vague invitation, a writer finds himself at a mysterious and secluded hotel. He wants to checkout more than he wants to understand the bizarre situation unfolding around him, but an alluring journalist and an antagonistic desk manager complicate things. In this dreamlike, absurdist novel, Marco Cavazos explores themes like nature versus technology, and asks philosophical questions about life and existence all while never taking any of it too seriously. Surreal and funny.

The Metamorphosis is a story about a man who wakes up transformed into a bug and the repercussions it has on his life and the people around him. What does it all mean? It is most probably an autobiography of how Kafka himself experienced early life living with his parents. Kafka describes how he endured his mother and father's financial and emotional exploitations, to the point of detaching from them and thereby ceasing to be their son (the real metamorphosis).

The boy and the girl have been married for decades, mostly getting along as they go about their lives. But one day, like thousands of people around the world, the boy vanishes, and the girl is left to wait, wonder, and worry. Will he return? Who might she be if she moves on without him?

Mistaking an ad to join the titular The Loneliest Band in France for one to sell his blood, Migara de Silva, the novella’s narrator—a Sri Lankan student, new to Montpellier—finds himself, instead, under the sway of the band, drinking heavily and being recruited to play a battle-of-the-bands-esque concert (that night) at the local Café Bovary with its four members: Noël, Guy, Lucien, and Michel. Not only is there prize money attached to the concert, the bandmates also see this as an opportunity to debut a new song—one, they claim, that can hurt—even kill—its listeners.

In this audacious and honest debut, a college student’s life in New York City serves as a satirical endorsement of modern life everywhere. Collin finds the self-service kiosks at McDonald’s consistent and calming in an otherwise chaotic world. He stands before one, swiping through the interactive menu as a way to ground himself more firmly in his reality—a reality of video games, posting furniture on Craigslist, and chatting with strangers on Discord. He mutters, “No man is an island,” and then realizes he hasn't spoken out loud since he last said, “semipermeable membrane."