The writings of Franz Kafka have earned just acclaim as being among the best, most influential works of the 20th century. Kafka's first novel, Amerika, follows the misadventures of 16-year-old Karl Rossman, a European boy whose parents ship him off to America after he is seduced by a servant girl. On arrival, Karl finds an America only Kafka could have envisioned-and the still hopeful youth is soon set upon by odd circumstance and suspect traveling companions.