A master manipulator, Knock was once an inveterate swindler before he opted
to turn over a new leaf and pursue an honest career in medicine. Now
a fully qualified doctor, he takes up his practice in the little village
of Saint-Maurice and is soon up to his old tricks, profiting from the misfortune
and gullibility of others. Being a respected figure of the community,
Dr Knock has no difficulty convincing perfectly healthy people that they
have contracted a potentially life-threatening illness.
Before he knows it, the unscrupulous Knock has a thriving practice, but just
when things are going so well for him his latest get-rich-quick scam is threatened
on two fronts. First, he allows himself to get emotionally involved
with someone - always a fatal mistake in his line of work. And then,
even worse, a bothersome old acquaintance arrives on the scene and sets about
trying to frustrate his latest moneymaking scheme...
In his letters to his friends and family, Franz Kafka gives us a rich self-portrait that is surprisingly upbeat, nor the angst-ridden soul we might expect.