Schmaltzig

You have heard of Kafka’s work being known only because of its popularization by his middlebrow friend, Max Brod. Karl Kraus, the Viennese satirist, said, “Geist auf Brod ist Schmaltz,” which is to say, Brod couldn’t even appreciate what it is he was purveying. The high things of the spirit, mediated by Max Brod, are like Jewish chicken fat on bread. I can’t recall whether Kraus finally converted, although I do know he consorted with a madam, which is repudiation of piety enough. But how he could repudiate schmaltz is another story.