In this volume of collected pieces, Kafka re-examines and rewrites some basic mythical tales of the Israelites, Ancient Greeks, Far East, and the Western World, as well as creations of his own imagination.

The material in the book is drawn from Kafka's notebooks, diaries, letters, short fictional works and the novel The Trial.

An earlier version of the collection appeared under the title Parables, and included a smaller selection of works.

Parables and Paradoxes brings together short texts from the wide variety of Kafka's works.

Since different texts were handled by different translators this volume allows readers to compare the various ways Kafka's works have been rendered into English.