Mockivity, Charles Bukowski, Franz Kafka, And Albert Camus

20th Century Authors on Work Americans would benefit from reading more literature from authors such as Charles Bukowski, Franz Kafka, and Albert Camus because these types of literature encourage personal reflection and analysis of contemporary American life. This is particularly relevant in the way that these authors discuss work and the balance between work, life, and pleasure, which is something that most Americans do not consider. We all have a tendency to run on autopilot and do what we feel we ‘need’ to do, what will make the boss happy, or what will make the most money and that is sometimes at the risk of denying ourselves happiness. From Charles Bukowski, Americans can reflect on whether the search for more and better material goods will make them truly happy and can wonder if they, like Bukowski, perhaps spend a little too much time devoted solely to pleasure. Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis taps into many Americans anxieties about constant thankless work, the need to provide the best for their families to prove their social status, and the …show more content…
Many people swing too far in one direction or the other. The youth of my generation have a hard time choosing between being creatively satisfied and being able to fulfill their monetary needs. There are a lot of complaints about ‘millennials’ being lazy or entitled, but much of the issue is a lack of the kind of jobs that provide satisfaction and thus many people of the millennial generation turn to other forms of money making that also satisfy their creative spirits such as art, music, or writing. Charles Bukowski understood this far before most other people did and that is very obvious in his writing. He completely rejects consumerism and the cyclical nature of big business trying to get Americans to ”buy buy buy”. He also appears to despise the notion that material goods will make you happy. In his poem, “Alone With Everybody”, He