Awakening one morning from restless dreams, a struggling, unsuccessful writer is transformed into... FRANZ KAFKA.  He swiftly ascends from anonymity to the pinnacle of social and intellectual status, but finds his own identity slipping away.  Can he unravel the mystery of his metamorphosis in time to recover (discover!) his true self?  

SYNOPSIS:

In contemporary New York City, Jay B. Alexander (mid-40s), a struggling, over-educated writer and academic stumbles through an undistinguished and uninspiring existence, full of regret for his unrealized potential. Living with his parents in Long Island, he commutes daily to a dead-end job at a publishing house, while making snail-pace progress on his first novel. Jay’s one joy is teaching an adult education course at NYU on the subject of his life’s passion: Twentieth Century Prague writer Franz Kafka. One morning, as he awakens from restless dreams, he experiences metamorphosis — he has become Kafka. Suddenly, Jay is possessed of the genius which had always eluded him. He publishes his novel, earns renown as an author, and ascends to the pinnacle of social and intellectual status. But amidst the success and acclaim, Jay finds his own identity slowly slipping away. So Jay embarks on a quest to discover the mystery of his metamorphosis — why, how, and for what purpose has he become Kafka? His journey takes him from the elite literary circles of Manhattan, to the Hasidic enclaves of Brooklyn, to the psychiatric ward of Mount Sinai Hospital, and ultimately to Prague itself. Along the way he encounters scholars, rabbis, doctors, and a motley crew of lost souls, all of whom are in some way haunted by the slim, mysterious genius from Prague. Can Jay unravel the mystery of his metamorphosis in time to recover (discover!) his true self?