Question

A David Foster Wallace essay examines a very short story by this author in which a mouse laments how “the whole world is growing smaller every day,” (15[1])only to be eaten by a cat. The narrator explains how people confuse the current emperor with dead ones in a story by this author that justifies the piecemeal construction method for building the Great Wall of China. (15[1])The narrator of a story by this author recalls struggling to learn to (*) drink alcohol during a talk on his past life as an ape. A panther replaces a performer who admits on his deathbed that he could never find food that he liked in (10[1])a story by this (10[1])writer whose title references the concept of the “starving artist.” For 10 points, name this Czech author who imagined Gregor’s transformation (10[1])into a giant bug in The Metamorphosis. ■END■

ANSWER: Franz Kafka [accept “Some Remarks on Kafka’s Funniness”]
<CM, European Literature>
= Average correct buzz position

Back to tossups

Buzzes

PlayerTeamOpponentBuzz PositionValue
Ben Russell JonesEdinburghCambridge A2615
Oliver HargraveOxfordDurham6415
Michael MaysImperial ABristol10910
Oscar SiddleWarwickImperial B11310
Liam GaineBirminghamCambridge B13410

Summary