Battling Our Cultural Anorexia

The Pursuit of Thicker Desire in an Ever-Thinning World

Jon Levin in “A Hunger Artist,” based on Franz Kafka’s short story, at the Connelly Theater. Credit: Kelly Stuart

Franz Kafka wrote one of his most important works near the end of his life, a short story he titled A Hunger Artist, published in 1922.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, “fasting artists” — basically, living skeletons — were exhibited at fairs and circuses. People paid a price to see and…