The Ecstasy of Influence is Jonathan Lethem's fifth book since his first breakthrough The Fortress of Solitude in the year 2003 which ranked as a bestseller. The book was later followed by several works such as Men and Cartoon an imaginary collection which he wrote in the year 2004, The Disappointment Artist in 2005, You Don’t Love Me Yet a rock novel in 2007. Lethem also involved himself with other side projects such as Believeniks, a collaboration about the 2005 Mets, and They Live, a critical essay about John Carpenter’s Film.
The Ecstasy of Influence portrays how Lethem enjoys literature. Although he sticks to literature, his not strictly a literary man. Lethem claims that the Ecstasy of Influence comprises some of his uncollected works with enough reviews to make another volume. He also claims that a good number of it have never been printed such as Advertisement for Norm, Zelig of Notoriety a story about his classmates Donna Tartt and Easton Ellis, My Disappointment Critic, his argument with James Wood and Rushmore Versus Abundance, his argument with other novelists who want to be the presidents. The ecstasy of Influence is a terrific and interesting fiction since Lethem is an unconventional and an open-minded critic.
