{"id":105532,"date":"2016-12-06T09:18:45","date_gmt":"2016-12-06T14:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=105532"},"modified":"2016-12-06T12:56:52","modified_gmt":"2016-12-06T17:56:52","slug":"kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Kafka Feared the Clap, and Other News"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_105533\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kafkadog.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-105533\" class=\"wp-image-105533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kafkadog.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"482\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kafkadog.jpg 1927w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kafkadog-300x241.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kafkadog-768x617.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kafkadog-1024x823.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-105533\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Just an average Kafka.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There\u2019s nothing wrong with Kafka. You don\u2019t have to look at him like that. He\u2019s just an average Joe, our Kafka, dreaming of erotic love but reacting with complete terror when presented with the act itself. For decades, Kafka scholars have struggled to explain his aversion to sex, especially in light of his evident fondness for women\u2014was he gay? Did he have some kind of body issue? No, his biographer Reiner Stach says: he was just petrified of venereal disease, as were many men in his era. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/books\/2016\/dec\/05\/kafkas-sexual-terrors-were-absolutely-normal-says-biographer\" target=\"_blank\">I read a lot of books on sexuality published in the 1900s, books usually intended for young girls and men<\/a>. They are just focused on risks, never about sexuality as a source of happiness. It is not about morality or religion\u2014just medical risks \u2026 But look at the historical and psychological context\u2014men and women were really separated at the time \u2026 They were educated in completely different ways. So when they met for the first time, often in their early twenties, this was often very embarrassing and very frightening \u2026 [Kafka was] unable to integrate his own sexuality into his self-image because he regarded it as something both physically and ethically impure, and therefore incapable of developing human intimacy with women who actively drew him into this filth\u2014this anti-sensual and misogynist syndrome was shared by millions of middle-class men, whose upbringing simply did not allow for erotic happiness.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>For Edmund Wilson and Nabokov, on the other hand, sex was the rare topic they could agree on\u2014so much so that you wonder why they didn\u2019t just get it over with and sleep together. Their famous feuds, as Alex Beam writes, could be broken only by a little X-rated titillation: \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.publishersweekly.com\/pw\/by-topic\/industry-news\/tip-sheet\/article\/72177-inside-vladimir-nabokov-and-edmund-wilson-s-epic-literary-feud.html\" target=\"_blank\">Sex was a subject the two men could talk and joke about<\/a>. Wilson wrote a clever little limerick about Vladimir \u2018stroking a butterfly\u2019s femur,\u2019 and he often brought Nabokov erotic books as house presents. In 1957, for instance, he took the French novel,\u00a0<em>Histoire d\u2019O\u00a0<\/em>along on a visit to the Nabokovs in Ithaca, New York, where the novelist was teaching at Cornell. \u2018[Nabokov] agreed with me,\u2019 Wilson recorded in his journal, \u2018that, trashy though it is, it exercises a certain hypnotic effect.\u2019 Vera Nabokova frowned on the two men\u2019s tittering enjoyment of <em>nyeprilichnaya literatura<\/em>\u00a0(indecent literature) and made sure that Wilson took the book with him when he left: \u2018She does not like my bringing him pornographic books,\u2019 Wilson remembered. \u2018She said with disgust that we had been giggling like schoolboys.\u2019 \u201d\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The rise of the Facebook Event has meant the death of the flyer\u2014there\u2019s little need to advertise your parties and DJ nights with subversive, painstakingly designed pieces of paper when a simple JPEG will suffice. Hua Hsu dips into <em>No Sleep<\/em>, a collection of nineties-era New York club flyers that doubles as the swan song of\u00a0a defunct underground culture: \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/culture\/culture-desk\/the-intoxicating-promise-of-new-york-citys-night-life-flyers?intcid=mod-latest\" target=\"_blank\">What <em>No Sleep<\/em> depicts is a much looser time, after disco and before the gilded age of mega-clubs and luxury bottle service, when the only guiding ethos was that anything was worth a try<\/a>. There are flyers in the shape of candy bars, detergent boxes, and dollar bills, printed in eye-catching neon or in austere black-and-white. The bulk of the collection being from the nineties, there are plenty of variations on the Nike swoosh, remixed Bart Simpsons, and faux cigarette logos \u2026 There\u2019s something romantic about the power that a well-designed flyer and word-of-mouth buzz once held, and for the acts of communion and escape that took place with minimal concern for branding or profit, since there existed few ambitions greater than just making the scene a little bigger.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Meanwhile, in Iceland: everyone\u2019s writing poems. Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura writes, \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/11\/30\/world\/what-in-the-world\/on-an-island-named-for-ice-the-poets-are-just-getting-warmed-up.html\" target=\"_blank\">When they\u2019re not at their day jobs, a great many of the island\u2019s 330,000 inhabitants dabble in verse, including politicians, businessmen, horse breeders and scientists who study the genetic isolation of the island in pursuit of medical breakthroughs<\/a> \u2026 Poetry is a national pastime, but not a particularly \u2018specialist activity,\u2019 said Sveinn Yngvi Egilsson,\u00a0a professor of Icelandic literature at the University of Iceland. \u2018It\u2019s part of being an Icelander,\u2019 he said. \u2018Yes, it\u2019s charming, isn\u2019t it?\u2019 \u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>And in El Alto, Bolivia, the architect Freddy Mamani Silvestre has set about leaving his distinctive mark: \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/hyperallergic.com\/338586\/the-vibrant-colors-and-andean-motifs-of-a-bolivian-architects-buildings\/\" target=\"_blank\">Most of its 1.6 million residents live in raw brick\u00a0houses, but over the past decade, an array of one-of-a-kind, futuristic buildings have sprung up across this fast-growing urban center, piercing the sky with sharp roofs that are pitched at steep\u00a0angles<\/a> \u2026 His buildings incorporate motifs from Andean textiles and ceramics that zigzag and curl their way across looming facades, framing huge, glossy window panes that reveal nothing of the interiors. Painted entirely in eye-popping hues, from emerald to tangerine to electric crimson, the compounds are exuberant; Mamani clearly strives to be playful, at times even adorning his buildings with\u00a0massive serpentine creatures that serve as\u00a0architectural dividers.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; There\u2019s nothing wrong with Kafka. You don\u2019t have to look at him like that. He\u2019s just an average Joe, our Kafka, dreaming of erotic love but reacting with complete terror when presented with the act itself. For decades, Kafka scholars have struggled to explain his aversion to sex, especially in light of his evident [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2512],"tags":[1657,4515,26083,1474,4513,26082,5410,26085,1822,125,26084,165,2047,179,14987,967],"class_list":["post-105532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-on-the-shelf","tag-architecture","tag-bolivia","tag-club-culture","tag-edmund-wilson","tag-el-alto","tag-flyers","tag-franz-kafka","tag-freddy-mamani-silvestre","tag-iceland","tag-new-york-city","tag-no-sleep","tag-poetry","tag-poets","tag-sex","tag-venereal-disease","tag-vladimir-nabokov"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Kafka Feared Sex Because of Venereal Disease, His Biographer Says<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This and more in today\u2019s literary roundup.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kafka Feared the Clap, and Other News by Dan Piepenbring\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"December 6, 2016 \u2013 &nbsp; There\u2019s nothing wrong with Kafka. You don\u2019t have to look at him like that. He\u2019s just an average Joe, our Kafka, dreaming of erotic love but\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-06T14:18:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-12-06T17:56:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kafkadog.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1927\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1549\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Piepenbring\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Piepenbring\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dan Piepenbring\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6b16ca558fc538230f135c3220dfd3c8\"},\"headline\":\"Kafka Feared the Clap, and Other News\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-06T14:18:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-06T17:56:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/\"},\"wordCount\":850,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kafkadog.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"architecture\",\"Bolivia\",\"club culture\",\"Edmund Wilson\",\"El ALto\",\"flyers\",\"Franz Kafka\",\"Freddy Mamani Silvestre\",\"Iceland\",\"New York City\",\"No Sleep\",\"poetry\",\"poets\",\"sex\",\"venereal disease\",\"Vladimir Nabokov\"],\"articleSection\":[\"On the Shelf\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/\",\"name\":\"Kafka Feared Sex Because of Venereal Disease, His Biographer Says\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kafkadog.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-06T14:18:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-06T17:56:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"This and more in today\u2019s literary roundup.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kafkadog.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kafkadog.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kafka Feared the Clap, and Other News\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6b16ca558fc538230f135c3220dfd3c8\",\"name\":\"Dan Piepenbring\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6fde7ced443ba5b52db3b06239dca8a2eaeff111fccecd7bf483663c99d2762b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6fde7ced443ba5b52db3b06239dca8a2eaeff111fccecd7bf483663c99d2762b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Piepenbring\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/dpiepenbring\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kafka Feared Sex Because of Venereal Disease, His Biographer Says","description":"This and more in today\u2019s literary roundup.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kafka Feared the Clap, and Other News by Dan Piepenbring","og_description":"December 6, 2016 \u2013 &nbsp; There\u2019s nothing wrong with Kafka. You don\u2019t have to look at him like that. He\u2019s just an average Joe, our Kafka, dreaming of erotic love but","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2016-12-06T14:18:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-12-06T17:56:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1927,"height":1549,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kafkadog.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dan Piepenbring","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Piepenbring","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/"},"author":{"name":"Dan Piepenbring","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6b16ca558fc538230f135c3220dfd3c8"},"headline":"Kafka Feared the Clap, and Other News","datePublished":"2016-12-06T14:18:45+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-06T17:56:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/"},"wordCount":850,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kafkadog.jpg","keywords":["architecture","Bolivia","club culture","Edmund Wilson","El ALto","flyers","Franz Kafka","Freddy Mamani Silvestre","Iceland","New York City","No Sleep","poetry","poets","sex","venereal disease","Vladimir Nabokov"],"articleSection":["On the Shelf"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/","name":"Kafka Feared Sex Because of Venereal Disease, His Biographer Says","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kafkadog.jpg","datePublished":"2016-12-06T14:18:45+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-06T17:56:52+00:00","description":"This and more in today\u2019s literary roundup.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kafkadog.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/kafkadog.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/06\/kafka-feared-the-clap-and-other-news\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kafka Feared the Clap, and Other News"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/6b16ca558fc538230f135c3220dfd3c8","name":"Dan Piepenbring","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6fde7ced443ba5b52db3b06239dca8a2eaeff111fccecd7bf483663c99d2762b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6fde7ced443ba5b52db3b06239dca8a2eaeff111fccecd7bf483663c99d2762b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Piepenbring"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/dpiepenbring\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105532"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105547,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105532\/revisions\/105547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}