What are the stimulants of writing, the fuels of literature? Volume 24 of the "Profiles" series addresses these themes as a companion book to the special exhibition at the Literature Museum in Austria, exploring both the ecstatic aspects of writing itself and the literature that deals with various forms of ecstasy, transcendence, and bodily experience. Many substances inspire literary imagination; on the other hand, asceticism and self-discipline can be necessary prerequisites for literary work. Writers such as Ingeborg Bachmann, Peter Handke, Mela Hartwig, Franz Kafka, Robert Musil, Adalbert Stifter, and others are examined in relation to these phenomena in literary history.