Jonathan Allen Lethem is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. Born on February 19, 1964, he embarked on his literary career with his debut novel, Gun, with Occasional Music, a genre-blending work of science fiction and detective fiction, published in 1994.

Lethem gained mainstream success with his 1999 novel, Motherless Brooklyn, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Building on this success, he published The Fortress of Solitude in 2003, which became a New York Times Best Seller.

In recognition of his contributions to literature, Lethem was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2005. Since 2011, he has been imparting his knowledge and expertise in creative writing at Pomona College.