Franz Kafka's bizarrely comedic meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation expressed through the story of a man who is transformed overnight into a giant beetle, now in a beautiful gift edition for the Union Square & Co. Signature Gilded Classics line. Only yesterday, Gregor Samsa was a meek salesman, browbeaten by his unappreciative employer and depended on fiercely by his ungrateful family. This morning, Gregor awakens to discover that, overnight, he has been transformed into a monstrous insect. First published in 1915, Kafka's best-known tale has inspired numerous interpretations for more than a century and helped to establish the term "Kafkaesque" as a reference to a bizarre and nightmarish experience. This collection of his short fiction, in a new translation, includes more than thirty of his short stories and sketches, including "In the Penal Colony," "The Stoker," "The Judgment," "A Country Doctor," "A Hunger Artist," and more.