The Kraus project

A great American writer's confrontation with a great European critic - a personal and intellectual awakening.Karl Kraus: satirist. Controversialist. Forgotten voice of the early twentieth century.Jonathan Franzen: bestseller. Contrarian. One of the greatest novelists working today.Recalling his student days, the celebrated author of `The Corrections' and `Freedom' recounts his discovery of Kraus and presents his own translations and annotations of the philosopher's most famous essays.A pioneer of self-publishing, Kraus brilliantly attacked the mass media and the dehumanizing machinery of technology and capitalism. A notoriously difficult writer, Kraus has met his match in Franzen: a popular novelist unafraid to voice unpopular opinions. In the extensive footnotes Franzen explains why Kraus is relevant today - while also revealing his own intellectual and personal preoccupations.Painstakingly wrought, strikingly original, `The Kraus Project' is a feast of thought and literature.