Most of what Erica Jong, author of the controversial '70s novel Fear of Flying, is saying in The Devil at Large can be summed up as follows: "If we have trouble categorizing Miller's 'novels' and consequently underrate them, it is because we judge them according to some unspoken notion of 'the we...
I have always been a fan of Greek mythology. Although I'd never heard of Sappho until discovering this novel more than a year ago, I've come to appreciate the attention Jong gives to Sappho's life and poetry.The novel moves quickly and is just what I've come to expect from this author's writing. ...
I was in high school when Fear of Flying came out and reading it was a bit of a rite of passage. Most of us, lacking any actual sex scenes of our own, read about Isadora's without any informed idea as to their accuracy. I read Parachutes & Kisses in my mid-twenties, and it has a special spot in m...
First, "What do Women Want?" by Erica Jong. Jenni borrowed this from me ages ago and said it wasn't much good. She'd be right. I thought it was going to be quite feminist, but rather wasn't. The title page maybe should have had me guessing that-four pics, bread, roses, sex, power. Now, I suspect ...
I haven't read any of Jong's other books and I don't know I'd want to. Probably a strange thing to do; read her memoir of sorts and not really have idea of who she is or what she's written but recently I was going through my bookshelves and was disgusted at how many books I own that I haven't yet...
Diciottesimo secolo. Una donna sta scrivendo. È nella sua sfarzosa camera da letto. La sua identità è un mistero, così come la sua vita. La fama può diffonderne la grazia e magnificarne i lineamenti, eppure è penoso farne un ritratto che non ne esalti al contempo il carattere. Del resto, le voci ...
I went out and got this book because of a record. I was on college radio in 1995, and we got in this record from Vanessa Daou called "Zipless." I'll be honest, the only reason I checked it out is because she's on the cover and she's hot. But in the end, I really liked it. Her husband provides all...
Loved your blog -- and boy did you nail Jong as a shallow starf***er who's really only into name dropping rather than insight. Gertrude Stein really was more interesting, but see, Jong is only interested in how cool her characters are, not how cool the famous people are. They're just props!Having...
Interestingly, when I took this out of the library, there was a piece of paper taped on the inside jacket titled “readers comments”. Here’s what our anonymous guest critics had to say:“Great fun!” “Enjoyed every minute” “Unfortunately, rather boring” “Waste of time. Read ¼ and returned book.” “...
I discovered Jong's 1973 debut FEAR OF FLYING in my basement at 14, and it was the most thrilling overnight-read of my life. I spied it on a forgotten shelf on a private quest for a “sex book,” which was any book in which sex was implied, discussed, or— please, lord— described. The front cover ...
Frick...here I was saying I was not going to call my reviews "reviews" any more but "impressions"...and now I realize that I did not compose a review in the right place but in the "Comments" place...So I basically commented on my non-existent review...so, bass ackwards and cart before the horse, ...
This is not my normal reading fare - but I was 3 years old when Fear of Flying came out. As I got older, I’d heard about it. It was on the must read list, mostly because it was so controversial (although not in this day and age). In my 30's I decided to read it and found myself a familiar protago...