The Nightmare of Reason is informed by psychological insights but does not depend on them. Indeed, Pawel is concerned to present not the Kafka of legend—that helpless, neurasthenic clerk—but rather a man who moved about in the world, who was a most reluctant but surprisingly effective business executive, and who was in some ways as typical of his age and class as, in others, he transcended them. Pawel has taken nothing at face value, and his readings of such problematic issues as Kafka's Judaism, his relations with his parents, the stormy engagement to Felice Bauer, and his affair with Milena JesenkÔa are immensely revealing and persuasive.