I have only one request," Kafka wrote to his publisher Kurt Wolff in 1913. "'The Stoker, ' 'The Metamorphosis, ' and 'The Judgment' belong together, both inwardly and outwardly. There is an obvious connection among the three, and, even more important, a secret one, for which reason I would be reluctant to forego the chance of having them published together in a book, which might be called The Sons."