Einstein in Kafkaland: How Albert Fell Down the Rabbit Hole

A charming, engaging, and brilliant exploration of the intersection between the lives and pursuits of Albert Einstein and Franz Kafka. Ken Krimstein is a fantastic graphic biographer who’s narrative imaginatively weaves history and speculative fiction with visually stunning illustrations that take you through the city of Prague and down the rabbit hole of the early 20th century.

The graphic novel primarily focuses on the parallels between Einstein's search for the answers to the universe, and Kafka’s tormented examination of the absurdity of existence and the human psyche. Throughout the novel the idea that both men are searching for meaning in a chaotic world that seems to illude them in disparate ways is central. All of this is demonstrated through various real life and imaginary characters talking via speech bubbles and striking illustrations of shadow and light that emphasize the mysteries with which both men grapple. Krimstein’s graphic novel makes both the complexities of scientific concepts and Kafka’s ‘enigmatic world’ available and understandable to general audiences in a way which is both entertaining and engaging.

Ken Krimstein is an American author, lecturer, and cartoonist. He has been publishing cartoons in The New Yorker since 2011. His most recent book before Einstein in Kafkaland, "When I Grow Up - The Lost Autobiographies of Six Yiddish Teenagers," was named an NPR Best Book of the Year in 2021. In addition to his work as a writer and cartoonist, Krimstein is an advertising creative director and teaches at DePaul University, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.