Frigyes Karinthy was one of the most popular Hungarian writers of the first decades of the twentieth century. His life, as well as his work, caught the attention of a wide audience. He wrote in almost every genre and created hybrid genres that are not easily definable, but his most successful pieces were undoubtedly his humorous sketches, travesties, and satires. These texts influenced not only the popular literary genres but also the cultural tastes of Hungarian readers. The complexity of Karinthy's convoluted work generated extensive debate concerning its artistic value, but nonetheless Karinthy remains significant within contemporary Hungarian literature.

One of the best-known commonplaces about Karinthy is that the audience respected only his light works, while his deeper worth remained unappreciated. The author himself described this situation by comparing his artistry to the potato flower--in Europe only the flower is eaten first, and the tuber is tasted later...