Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was a German-speaking Czech-Austrian author, regarded as one of the most important writers during the 20th century. He was born and grew up in a middle-class Czech Jewish family in Prague. Later, he trained as a lawyer and after completing his legal education was employed full-time by an insurance company. Hence, he wrote in his spare time and used the experiences from the insurance company as inspiration for his works, which more than once describes a bizarre bureaucracy. However, none of his works were published during his lifetime. In his will, Kafka instructed his executor and friend, Max Brod, to destroy his unfinished works, including his novels The Trial, The Castle, and America. Instead of obeying Kafka's instruction, Brod published his works which later has influenced several writers, critics, artists, and philosophers during the 20th and 21st centuries. Today, Kafka is renowned as one of the greatest interpreters on human exposure in a world where laws and ordinance are superior to the individual. The conception and design behind our bookends stem from Swedish renowned industrial designer, Jan Landqvist and are made in the small town of Gnosjö in the south of Sweden.
