For John Waters, Jack Smith was "the only true underground filmmaker"; theater director Richard Foreman called him "the hidden source of practically everything of interest in experimental American theater" - Jack Smith inspired Laurie Anderson, Robert Wilson, Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, and trans artist Anohni, among others. He collaborated with musicians such as John Zorn and was a key figure in the development of New York's queer and drag underground performances from the 1960s to the 1980s. Smith's art and lifestyle influenced German experimental filmmakers Wilhelm and Birgit Hein and artists Katharina Sieverding and Klaus Mettig, among others; his queer performance aesthetic made him an important reference point for critical writings on the phenomenon of camp, from Susan Sontag to Diedrich Diederichsen and philosopher Juliane Rebentisch.
The majority of his written work, which includes fascinating, disturbing, and hilarious writings, performance texts, and essays on film and art, pornographic fantasies, manifestos, and statements, is now being published in German for the first time.

With contributions by Bertolt Brecht's son Stefan Brecht, Smith researcher Jim Hoberman, Jonas Mekas, and Susan Sontag; plus photos and documents chronicling Smith's stay in Cologne in the 1970s and Hamburg in the early 1980s, as well as an introductory essay by film scholar Marc Siegel.