Rating: 
Summary: Shooting Kafka's dreams with a handheld camera
Review: 'The man and I' is one of the 44 bizarre, dreamlike and often very funny stories in this collection. The setting is a sad, desolate wasteland. In a widescreen shot, two men come running towards each other, first at full speed, then slower and slower, until they stand still with just the hairs of their noses touching each other. What follows is a weird conversation, not in a fluid, skillfull literary sense, but in a surreal, sledgehammer-like street language. The dialogue ends with both men angrily withdrawing and walking back in their own footsteps, accusing each other of murder. It's a totally arresting mise-en-scene. But is this it? A three-word joke? No, because after reading it a second time, I realized what made this tale so intriguing was the form that D. Harlan Wilson, as a filmdirector, has chosen. It's not shot in beautiful panorama images, no gliding steadycams, no self-indulging editing. Just plain handheld camera footage, like Lars von Triers 'Breaking the waves' or Nick Gomez' masterfully shot 'Laws of gravity'.
It's a good enough Kafkaesque dreamscape, a smooth but egdy stream-of-consciousness narrative. But to wrap it up ina gritty, realistic, documentary-like style takes guts, and a slightly unhealthy urge to be literarily perverse. And maybe, just maybe, a touch of genious.
Another story, 'Erotic poem', has the same effect. Here we see a kind of manic depressive stage performer presenting a whole bunch of sophisticated but weird acts. It's a postmodern cinema veritae by David Lynch with a crowd that consists entirely of famous movie stars who, especially for the occassion, have turned their skins inside out. At first, 'Erotic poem' reads like nothing more than an accumulation of bizarre but often very funny acts cooked up by an alienated angstmeister; it seems like a story with a load of ideas but without any significant narrative. Then I remembered that famous story by Borges about the library of Babel. Without narrative or clear characters, Borges sums up (almost pathological) a various range of odd and intriguing books. And it worked. And it works with Wilson's story, too. Because the mani subject in this story is not the performer himself but his fleshed-out pathological urge to entertain not only the audience but also himself. It's not a mere job for him, it's a way of life. Anybody remember Andy Kaufmann?
To make this voyeurism into meta-voyeurism, we, as readers, are captivated by Wilson's own maniacal tongue-in-cheek way of theatremaking. It's like the twist in the tale, but the twist is not in the story itself - it is within ourselves.
'The man and I' and 'Erotic poem' are only two of many gems in 'The Kafka Effekt'. Buy this book, and take a walk on Wilson's wildside.
Rating: 
Summary: Absurd Masterpieces
Review: D. Harlan Wilson has built a strange body of work. For most emerging writers that statement might be a kiss of death, but not for him. Wilson's intelligence and a razor wit separate his writing from the ignorant vulgarity that too often passes for originality in today's liturature. In his short story collection, The Kafka Effekt, strangeness becomes a weapon.These stories are masterpieces of the absurd, both darkly funny and tragic. Wilson leads his readers through a surreal world with each one. And though he is far from the first author to do that, Wilson's skill in maintaining the delicate balance between chaos and meaning is what makes his writing enjoyable. In every bizarre step along the 44 stories in this book, the reader collects a treasure: a nugget of understanding, a flash of empathy, or even a sense of familiarity with the often nigthmarish universe of Wilson's characters. Profound without being didactic and expertly blending jaded humor with a sobering vision of the future, The Kafka Effekt is well worth a few bad dreams and skipped meals. It is strange in the best possible way.
Rating:
Summary: Buy this book or I will jump out my bedroom window
Review: D. Harlan Wilson's world is unpredictable, unconventional and one where anything can and will happen.
Many characters are the id in its purest form, acting on impulse and neurosis, which is what makes these stories so fun.
His tales are weird and crazy and gory and funny, surreal and bizarre. They are complex and compelling and better yet, unlike anything you will read elsewhere.
Oh yeah, I'm even a Jesus freak and I still dig D. Harlan.
Rating: 
Summary: Half-assed attempt at actually writing something decent...
Review: Go ahead. Give me a low rating on this review, say it wasn't helpful. You know the reason you're doing that is because you only want to read reviews that confirm what you already like. I, however, do not like this book. Why? Because first off, it doesn't sound like Kafka. Kafka wasn't always so extremely off the wall. Kafka wrote like a tormented, impoverished man. And most of all, Kafka wrote work that could constitute more than a page. D. Harlan Wilson fails in every aspect here. I found it hilarious that he actually inserted an excerpt of a rejection letter for one of his stories that claims that it went nowhere, as good as it was written. I agree. Even Kafka's one paragraph stories went somewhere. I could take D. Harlan Wilson as one not trying to be Kafka and admit that I like some of his stuff. But he asked for it. Admitting he's trying to imitate Kafka's best work, as well as naming the BOOK after him (which appears so unoriginal to me), it is just ASKING to be compared to the master of the absurd, right up there with Camus and Flannery O'Connor. Wilson is still underground, and I think he'll stay that way, which is sad because he's doing his (or recently finished) his Ph.D and should be writing so much better. He's trying too hard to shock, and doing it with the writing talent of a young boy, not to mention one that seems to have a short attention span as well. I think he needs to be more honest with himself and THEN write. I'm sure he has the potential. I give this 2 stars because of the following reason: Despite all pointers Wilson gives to compare himself to Kafka, I can look at it a little as its own work. It's new...not very original, but still new. He has a simple concept of the English language that is enjoyable for the first few stories you read before it gets totally redundant like Stanley Donwood's writing. But I don't expect him to be able to work on and finish an entire novel. And if he did, I never would finish reading it myself if it got as redundant as the stories. Yes, I am a bastard. But I'm a bastard who appreciates good literature. D. Harlan Wilson just doesn't cut it, and neither does Eraserhead Press and their "shock material" they publish. End review.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but no Kafka
Review: I have to agree with that one review. This is hardly the artful significance of Kafka. But nevertheless, I still enjoyed the eccentricity and wildness of Wilson's writing. and a few a thoughtprovoking and interesting to say the least. Overall, I would reccomend this one to anyone with an open and creative mind.
Rating:
Summary: great!
Review: This book, along with Toilet: The Novel (another Kafkaesque affair) will disturb you plain and simple in the utter insanity of its premises.
Rating:
Summary: absurd and irreal writings
Review: this is another fine example of the quality and type of material people run from like the plague but eraserheadpress.com has no qualms about releasing. many of these stories have their origins in wilson's out of print chapbook 'kafka breathing sock puppets'(a reference to 'supercalafraglisitc city', the last story in both this novel and the chapbook). to me this is relaxing to read, good exercise for the mind. highly recommended to those who have a shred of intelligence
Rating:
Summary: Absurd Masterpieces
Review: This is great collection of stories. Intelligent, weird, comical and crafty. Like Kafka, Wilson's writing style is simplistic and pragmatic, but there's a lot going on beneath the surface. And it's funny. I laughed out loud from the beginning to the end of this book. I've never read anything quite like it. If you want to learn to laugh at and rethink yourself and the world you live in, check it out.
Rating:
Summary: A Contemporary Kafka
Review: Wilson's imagination far surpasses almost every living author in print. His stories are as entertaining as they are smart, as surreal as they are socially accurate. The absurd ideas and strange situations are so mind-boggling and fun that you'll want to start this book over again as soon as you've finished. There's not an author since Russell Edson who compels this in me. Just buy everything written by this guy. You won't be disappointed! . . . unless you happen to be the Jesus freak a couple posts below who is the only person who gave a negative review. If you happen to be close-minded, as most Jesus freaks are, you're just not going to get Wilson. Also, I'd like to point out that if you are expecting a Kafka-clone you're not going to find it here. This guy is very fresh and very unique. I'm sure the only reason why this book is called The Kafka Effekt is because the author was very inspired by Kafka or perhaps Kafka is the only other author out there that readers can compare Wilson to. But whereas Kafka is classical and bleak, Wilson is colorful, upbeat, funny as hell, and extremely modern. And far less subtle with his wild displays of surrealism and the absurd. Which makes for a more enjoyable read than your regular Kafka-clone who thinks they are writing for an early 1900s audience. Also, his second collection, "Stranger on the Loose," is just as good if not even better than the Kafka Effekt. I recommend getting them both before you are eaten by a giant hors d'oeuvres.
Rating:
Summary: A Contemporary Kafka
Review: Wilson's imagination far surpasses almost every living author in print. His stories are as entertaining as they are smart, as surreal as they are socially accurate. The absurd ideas and strange situations are so mind-boggling and fun that you'll want to start this book over again as soon as you've finished. There's not an author since Russell Edson who compels this in me. Just buy everything written by this guy. You won't be disappointed! . . . unless you happen to be the Jesus freak a couple posts below who is the only person who gave a negative review. If you happen to be close-minded, as most Jesus freaks are, you're just not going to get Wilson. Also, I'd like to point out that if you are expecting a Kafka-clone you're not going to find it here. This guy is very fresh and very unique. I'm sure the only reason why this book is called The Kafka Effekt is because the author was very inspired by Kafka or perhaps Kafka is the only other author out there that readers can compare Wilson to. But whereas Kafka is classical and bleak, Wilson is colorful, upbeat, funny as hell, and extremely modern. And far less subtle with his wild displays of surrealism and the absurd. Which makes for a more enjoyable read than your regular Kafka-clone who thinks they are writing for an early 1900s audience. Also, his second collection, "Stranger on the Loose," is just as good if not even better than the Kafka Effekt. I recommend getting them both before you are eaten by a giant hors d'oeuvres.
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