Frankie	Johnny
Well-known artist, a writer	Well-known artist, a musician
Obsessed with his father, making him the subject of several stories	Obsessed with his mother, making her the subject of several songs
Mother's name Julie	Mother's name Julia
Died at age 40, of tuberculosis; “I should think [death] would be more of a gentleman”	Died at age 40, shot by madman
Frequently morose, depressed, possibly suffered from bipolar disorder	Frequently morose, depressed, possibly suffered from bipolar disorder
Against World War I	Against the Vietnam War
Spent some time in Germany	Spent some time in Germany
Wrote his stories in German	Sang “Sie Liebt Dich” and “Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand” in German
Wrote a novel about an immigrant to America	Was an immigrant to America
Wrote some truly bizarre stories	Wrote some truly bizarre songs
Published author in his own right	Published In His Own Write
Some of his books first published in paperback	Sang “Paperback Writer”
Somewhat proto-psychedelic stories, such as A Country Doctor	Totally psychedelic songs, such as “Doctor Robert”
Influenced by Lewis Carrol (Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass)	Influenced by Lewis Carrol (“The Walrus and the Carpenter” morphed into “I Am the Walrus”)
Attractive to girls	Extremely attractive to girls
Lived in the old, dirty city of Prague	Lived in the old, dirty city of Liverpool
Was happiest with his last girlfriend, Dora Diamant	Was happiest with his second and last wife, Yoko Ono
Friends like Max Brod kept his legacy alive	Friends like Paul McCartney kept his legacy alive
Had little or no appreciation of music	Complained about pseudo-intellectual types “fuckin' talking about Kafka and shit.”
Numerous memorials in Prague commemorating one of the city's most beloved sons	The John Lennon Wall in Prague a beloved symbol of freedom in Communist era
One of the most admired and imitated writers of the 20th century	One of the most admired and imitated musicians of the 20th century

                This pairing is meant solely for entertainment value and should not be taken too seriously.  In other words, IT'S A JOKE, DAMMIT!!!  Don't write me flames about how I'm dissing one or the other, or how they really have nothing in common.  Yes, I know that it's a REALLY long way between the harsh, depressing world of The Trial and The Castle, as compared with All You Need Is Love and bright, cheery Pepperland in Yellow Submarine.  However, I think that they in fact  meet somewhere in the middle.  Both were frequently depressed and they both had wicked senses of frequently pitch-black humor.  Also, keep in mind that Beatlemania was perhaps one of the most Kafkaesque events this century, with the total unreality and complete bizzareness of it all.  Besides, if you can't have fun with people you admire, then who can you have fun with???

Incidentally, when one of Alan Bennett's plays about Kafka, The Insurance Man, was filmed for television, they used Liverpool as a stand in for Prague.  I just find that amusing.

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