A Hunger Artist Book download in PDF, ePub & Mobi
by Franz Kafka
Short Story Literary Fiction Isolation Spiritual Poverty The Search for Meaning Art and Commercialism
A Hunger Artist is a short story written by Franz Kafka and originally published in 1922.
This story tells the story of a hunger artist, that is, a professional who fasts on purpose while being exhibited in a cage from city to city. He was locked in a cage by his manager, with only a handful of straw, for forty days.
The public was attracted by such a feat and even watched the artist. He was not allowed to eat anything on the sly and they made sure of the authenticity of his challenge. However, this was not necessary, as the artist himself would consider it a betrayal of his art and would not think of doing so.
However, as time went by, people's interest in the show waned, and he was always eager to be able to take his challenge of not eating longer and further... without thinking of the consequences.
For this edition of the story A Hunger Artist, the English translation by Ian Johnston has been used.
"In the last decades interest in hunger artists has declined considerably. Whereas in earlier days there was good money to be earned putting on major productions of this sort under oneβs own management, nowadays that is totally impossible."
#17 in Literary fiction (this month)
#4 in Short Stories (this month)
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Copyright info
A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka is believed to be in the public domain in the United States only. It may still be copyrighted in other countries. If you are not in the United States, please check your local laws to ensure this eBook is in the public domain in your country before downloading A Hunger Artist in PDF or ePub.
WHY READ A HUNGER ARTIST IN 2025?
103 years later, still timelyA performer fasts for weeks in a cage while crowds come and go. 'A Hunger Artist' turns endurance into art and asks what authenticity looks like when attention is fickle. Kafka's restraint makes the story sharper: no speechifying, just ritual, hunger, and the strange bargain between artist and audience.
It's a clear parable for performance economies: what counts as real, who decides, and how spectacle erodes meaning. The tale invites quiet rereading rather than noise. Bring it to discussions of art, work, and worth.
Art and audience
Applause cannot define value alone. The exchange is tense and revealing.
Endurance as language
Time becomes the medium. Discipline speaks where words fail.
Minimalism with bite
Spare detail heightens impact. What is left out does the haunting.
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About Franz Kafka
Bureaucratic nightmares and lucid prose; the comedy of dread that names modern power and anxiety.
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