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Fear Of Flying

3.4 of 5 stars 3.40 · rating details · 7,568 ratings · 647 reviews

The modern classic that changed the way we thought about sex: Isadora Wing just wants to be free to find the perfect, guiltless, zipless sexual encounter, and pursues this ideal across two continents.

Paperback, 340 pages

Published August 5th 2004 by Vintage (first published 1973)

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Mar 29, 2013 Manny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, no-redeeming-social-importance, parody-homage, story-review, pooh-dante

iw69: hello. i want you now

mannyrayner: do we know each other?

iw69: not at all, that's the point. i thought we could just have a completely no-strings-attached sexual encounter for its own sake, and then say goodbye. wouldn't that be poetic and beautiful?

mannyrayner: um, well, maybe. i'm sorry, i guess i should just be doing this and not analyzing it. can i at least have a name or will that ruin everything?

iw69: i'm isadora

mannyrayner: that's a pretty name. pardon me for being so old-fashioned

iw...more

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Aug 02, 2008 Jessica marked it as aborted-efforts · review of another edition Recommends it for: zipless fuckers?

Recommended to Jessica by: i'm not so sure anyone did....

Shelves: bad-reads, chicklits, crazy-ladies, here-is-new-york, love-and-other-indoor-sports

Earlier on this evening I was talking to my sainted mother on the telephone, and she noted that I seemed to be "reading a lot of intellectual books lately," to which I reacted with vehemently indignant daughterly rage: "I am NOT, Mom!"

Why my mother's comment should seem so thoroughly offensive is a fitting subject for my analyst (a mythical figure about whom I love to fantasize but probably wouldn't enjoy much if he actually existed), though not so much for the internet, but I've got poor bounda...more

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Jun 30, 2008 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Let me start off by saying that I liked this book - I really did. Isadora Wing (with a name like that, Erica Jong brings the concept of 'thinly veiled autobiography' to new heights) is an exuberant and lovable character. I thought the writing was very good in parts, even though other parts read as if a six-year-old Erica was sitting in her bedroom with a Barbie and two Ken dolls, mashing them together and transcribing the dialogue (she does say she fell in love with her husband because of his sm...more Let me start off by saying that I liked this book - I really did. Isadora Wing (with a name like that, Erica Jong brings the concept of 'thinly veiled autobiography' to new heights) is an exuberant and lovable character. I thought the writing was very good in parts, even though other parts read as if a six-year-old Erica was sitting in her bedroom with a Barbie and two Ken dolls, mashing them together and transcribing the dialogue (she does say she fell in love with her husband because of his smooth, hard body and hairless balls - coincidence?).

I appreciate what this book must have meant to women in the '70s, when it was generally unacceptable for them to talk about their sex lives and fantasies - as thin and sad as many of Isadora's sexual experiences seem when you read about them today. It's also an interesting account of psychoanalysis, back when Freud's word was gospel, when a woman couldn't take a shit without being told that she was only doing so because she wanted to have sex with her father.

However, I think that as a work of literature, this book is average or less than - and I'm judging it as an attempted work of literature because that's how Isadora/Erica Jong seems to view it. She mentions several times that she doesn't want to be like those frivolous stereotypical 'lady writers', that she wants to create art. Why, then, does she insist on trapping herself in narcissistic autobiography, in writing as therapy? Why, instead of creating an original character and allowing us to experience things with her, does she pretty much just collate the transcripts of about 500 of her own psychoanalysis sessions, shove them in our faces and say, "Here, YOU figure out this nut case!"? Because the subject is so close to her own heart, she doesn't have enough distance to give us (or herself) any real insight into what's going on. So the end result is frustrating - Isadora talks about how liberated and independent she is now, how wonderful it is that she'll always have her art, etc. etc. - but you get the sense that despite her boisterous claims, she hasn't really achieved a thing. (less)

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Mar 26, 2012 Shovelmonkey1 rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people with phobias of zips

Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by: 1001 books list

Shelves: 1001-books, bookcrossing-books, read-in-2011

Liberté, égalité, sexualité or Pteromerhanophobia

When this book was first published the general consensus was something along the lines of "ooh madam"! and a lot of raised eye brows. I imagine people covertly reading this wrapped in brown paper and hoping that no one was looking over their shoulders on the bus or on the tube. And of course it would be the sort of thing that one simply had to hide from ones husband. Of course nowadays you could just download it onto your Kindle and make the text...more

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Aug 12, 2008 Taylor rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone. Except snobs.

Shelves: fiction, favorites, own, desert-island-picks, just-like-a-woman, the-power-of-love, women-writers, wheres-the-bedroom

For whatever reason (possibly because someone I recommended it to wasn't that thrilled by it), I feel a bit like I need to defend this book lately, and since I reviewed it when I first joined this site and most people were writing shorter reviews, I'd like to give it a better write-up.

The premise of Fear of Flying is fairly simple: Isadora White Wing is in a marriage she isn't exactly happy with. Her husband isn't especially warm to her, nor is he incredibly supportive of her career (like Jong,...more

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Mar 26, 2007 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Can't judge before I finish, and I'm only halfway done. My first impressions are that this is a pioneering book in the area, and I'm supposed to judge it for its pioneeringness than because I like its intrinsic qualities. Like Jackson Pollack.

Update after I finished reading:
She's a fantastic writer with a gift for vivid storytelling, but the story of her (okay, fine, Isadora's) life isn't a particularly worthwhile one to tell. Fear of Flying seems like a particularly neurotic precursor to chick...more

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Jun 05, 2008 Megan Scaison rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: iconoclastic women, women who wish they were iconoclastic

Recommended to Megan by: my grandmother, second-wave feminism

I remember that when I called my grandmother to tell her that I was going to be in the vagina monologues, I expected her to react to the name: I expected her to be unaware of Eve Ensler and what V-Day is about. She simply said, "You should read Fear of Flying- it's like the first vagina monologue."

As it happens, she was so right. It's the kind of book you really regret not reading years earlier, when you really needed some of this information. If I'd read it as a teenager, would I have felt so c...more I remember that when I called my grandmother to tell her that I was going to be in the vagina monologues, I expected her to react to the name: I expected her to be unaware of Eve Ensler and what V-Day is about. She simply said, "You should read Fear of Flying- it's like the first vagina monologue."

As it happens, she was so right. It's the kind of book you really regret not reading years earlier, when you really needed some of this information. If I'd read it as a teenager, would I have felt so conspicuous about my own, relatively mild but rather interesting sexual misadventures? And wouldn't I have felt more, you know, proud of myself? If I'd read it in my early 20's, wouldn't the bits about Isadora's first husband, the secret scizophrenic, going off the deep end have helped me deal much better when my secretly scizophrenic best friend went off the deep end?

Perhaps, though, it really is better to have read it now, when Isadora and I are practically the same age. Going through the same things, other than the whole sexual orientation thing. She talks about aging; she talks about post-college stagnation (which I can understand, though I certainly haven't managed to graduate so far). She talks about the lure and repulsiveness of pregnancy and childrearing to a childless woman nearing the end of youth. She talks about youthful ambition, spirituality, the reality of monogamy and desire. The things she found important to discover for herself are, unsurprisingly, things I, myself, have longed to hear.

Thank you, Isadora, I'll see you again in a few years.

Side note: I read a large part of this book during two rather boring stripping shifts. It felt very appropriate, but it's true that Fear of Flying was very influential in second-wave feminism. Would second-wave feminism have approved of my choice of setting? I think not, though I also think the movement would be wrong in this. In any case, posing this question to a customer right before a Peggy Lee-laden set earned me a very sizable tip.(less)

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Jan 14, 2009 Jennifer March rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature

At first, I found FEAR OF FLYING hilarious. She talks nonstop about sex and analysis, dropping the F bomb like there's no tomorrow, espousing this funny social commentary about life and marriage, a quasi-feminist rant (very feminist for 1973), yet she loves it when men grab her behind (not feminist anyway you slice it). I was started reading it because it was the IT book in 1973. My mom, who would not normally read something like this, for example, read it. She HAD to read it. EVERYONE read it--...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Charly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Read this book a long time ago and remember it as being both humerous and with tounge firmly in cheek a political statement on women's rights. Really enjoyed the read. I am not sure but I think it will stand the test of time well

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May 09, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: erotic, read-again

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I have tried to read this book over the years three or four separate times. Each time I was unable to get past the opening scene. Where’s the sex I wanted to know? What’s with all the shrinks, and God they are a dull bunch. This is supposed to be an erotic book right? Turns out the place I needed to be to get this book was a long time in coming.

Here’s what Marco Vassi--the most intelligent erotic writer of all time-- said about erotic writing and Fear of Flying in particular.

“Fear of Flying is...more

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Nov 22, 2010 Lauren Smith rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: feminism, own, erotic

Last month I read a chick lit novel whose idea of feminism was to avoid men and portray women as either victims of their unhappy marriages or single and thus empowered to almost mythical proportions. Whatever its noble intentions it made feminism look like a joke. The best thing I can say about it is that it made me long for something far bolder, more complex, and better written. I'd had Fear of Flying on my shelf for a few years and had started it a few times without finishing. Now I found myse...more

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Dec 20, 2007 liz rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: lostonplanestrainsorcoffecarts

An important novel, but not one that I especially enjoyed. I have heard there was a time when chronicling the sexual acts and desires of a heroine in crude, lusty language was incendiary. Thanks in some part to this book, that time has passed. Fear of Flying is a solid portrayal of female yearning, but not much more than that.
The copy I bought to replace the one I lost on a plane had the afterword written by Jong thirty years after the original publication, and I am really glad I read that. I...more

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Dec 26, 2007 Sarah Morgan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found this very dated and not relevant to women today. Not only because the zipless fuck is less likely to happen but because the book dosen't seem to approach realtionships with any equality. The psychology of the book seemed like the most outdated part. For me the writting was not good enough to overcome the shortcomings of the story. I appreciate that the the book for the impact it made on women's sexual liberation and freedom, but not relevant in today's sexual practices or norms. More int...more

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Aug 07, 2012 moshimoshineko rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction, classic

Bought for $2.95 at Mostly Books - 529 Bainbridge St, Philadelphia

So close to the bone.

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Apr 23, 2013 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"What all the ads and all the whorescopes seemed to imply was that if only you were narcissistic enough, if only you took proper care of your smells, your hair, your boobs, your eyelashes, your armpits, your crotch, your stars, your scars, your Scotch in bars- you would meet a beautiful , powerful, potent, and rich man who would satisfy every longing, fill every hole, make your heart skip a beat (or stand still), make you misty, and fly you to the moon (preferably on gossamer wings), where you w...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Gail rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first heard about the international, cultural, and historical phenomenon that is Erica Jong’s 1973 bestseller “Fear of Flying” when Naomi Wolf described it as “the first female bildungsroman to identify in parallel terms a journey of female sexual awakening with a journey of psychological and creative awakening.” If you’re younger than fifty and have some extra time on your hands, the book is worth reading just to understand second-wave feminism a bit better. As a novel removed from its contex...more I first heard about the international, cultural, and historical phenomenon that is Erica Jong’s 1973 bestseller “Fear of Flying” when Naomi Wolf described it as “the first female bildungsroman to identify in parallel terms a journey of female sexual awakening with a journey of psychological and creative awakening.” If you’re younger than fifty and have some extra time on your hands, the book is worth reading just to understand second-wave feminism a bit better. As a novel removed from its context, however, I give it an “eh, pretty good” - thanks to uneven pacing that undermines the timeless themes and pockets of exceptional writing.

Protagonist Isadora Wing who (like most of us) seeks both excitement and security, struggles to find both with one man - or maybe even a satisfying balance outside the institution of marriage. Wing voices several famous passages regarding marriage, the perils of remaining single in a man’s world, and the impact of aging on women’s worth. The following excerpt epitomizes “Fear of Flying” and the reason for its remarkable popularity in the year the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade:

“What all the ads and all the whoreoscopes seemed to imply was that if only you were narcissistic enough, if only you took proper care of your smells, your hair, your boobs, your eyelashes, your armpits, your crotch, your stars, your scars, and your choice of Scotch in bars - you would meet a beautiful, powerful, potent, and rich man who would satisfy every longing, fill every hole, make your heart skip a beat (or stand still), make you misty, and fly you to the moon (preferably on gossamer wings), where you would live totally satisfied forever. And the crazy part of it was that even if you were clever, even if you spent your adolescence reading John Donne and Shaw, even if you studied history or zoology or physics and hoped to spend your life pursuing some difficult and challenging career - you still had a mind full of all the soupy longings that every high-school girl was awash in. It didn’t matter, you see, whether you had an IQ of 170 or an IQ of 70, you were brainwashed all the same. Only the surface trappings were different. Only the talk was a little more sophisticated. Underneath it all, you longed to be annihilated by love, to be swept off your feet, to be filled up by a giant prick spouting sperm, soapsuds, silks and satins, and of course, money. Nobody bothered to tell you what marriage was really about. You weren’t even provided, like European girls, with a philosophy of cynicism and practicality. You expected not to desire any other men after marriage. And you expected your husband not to desire any other women. Then the desires came and you were thrown into a panic of self-hatred.”

With an engaging opening, fascinating primary plot, and appropriate conclusion, the novel has all the makings of an enjoyable read - especially when descriptions like the following grab hold of the reader:

- “From the first, the marriage was strange. We’d both expected rescue. And there we were both clawing at each other and drowning together.”

- “Tears have such a comforting taste. As if you could weep a whole new womb and crawl into it.”

- “As a seasoned insomniac, I knew sometimes the way to beat sleeplessness was to outwit it: to pretend you didn’t care about sleeping. Then sometimes sleep became piqued, like a rejected lover, and crept up to try to seduce you.”

- “The strangest thing about crying (perhaps this is a carryover from infancy) is that we never can cry wholeheartedly without a listener - or at least a potential listener. We don’t let ourselves cry as desperately as we might. Maybe we’re afraid to sink under the surface of the tears for fear there will be no one to save us. Or maybe tears are a form of communication - like speech - and require a listener.”

- “The bruise on the heart which at first feels incredibly tender to the slightest touch eventually turns all the shades of the rainbow and stops aching. We forget about it. We even forget we have hearts until the next time. And then when it happens again we wonder how we ever could have forgotten.”

If only Jong hadn’t laden the middle section of the book down with descriptions of past relationships, I’d be wild about “Fear of Flying.” As it is, I recommend it on the basis of historical curiosity, cultural understanding, a unique tone, and some extraordinary figurative language.(less)

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Apr 02, 2013 Mariam Odent rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this at the same time as Portnoy's complaint. It consider it sorta of the female counterpoint to Portnoy's complaint in that it has the neurotic frankness about sex, being Jewish and failing at relationships. The book has quite a reputation for being all about sex and it sorta over shadows the book. Reading the intro and various supplementary sources in the novel (bookclub questions, interviews etc) and googling it, you'd think it was all about sex, women's lib and being radical in that 1...more

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Feb 14, 2013 soul rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Препоръките на Хенри Милър и Джон Ъпдайк не само ме провокираха да прочета книгата, но бяха и гаранция, че няма да попадна на подобие на някои напористи съвременни авторки, твърдо убедени, че натъпкани с цинизми страници и секс през страница са достатъчни, за да спечелят читателя. Или на поредния любовен бестселър, роден от стерилното, целомъдрено, ялово и псевдоеротично въображение на домакиня с писателски претенции.
"Страх от летене" е нещо съвсем друго. Предизвиква ужас у пуританите още с поя...more Препоръките на Хенри Милър и Джон Ъпдайк не само ме провокираха да прочета книгата, но бяха и гаранция, че няма да попадна на подобие на някои напористи съвременни авторки, твърдо убедени, че натъпкани с цинизми страници и секс през страница са достатъчни, за да спечелят читателя. Или на поредния любовен бестселър, роден от стерилното, целомъдрено, ялово и псевдоеротично въображение на домакиня с писателски претенции.
"Страх от летене" е нещо съвсем друго. Предизвиква ужас у пуританите още с появата си и е забраняван като порнография. Защото Ерика Джонг шокира с откровеността си по деликатни теми и с прямотата на изказа си. И не изобилието от цинизми е първото забележително нещо при нея, а смелостта да не бъде одобрявана от околните лицемерка и да мисли и пише за това, което я вълнува, в прав текст и с истинските имена на нещата - нещо еретично за една жена по това време.

Нейната Айсидора Зелда не иска да бъде обикновена и порядъчна. Първо се страхува да е жена, защото не е подготвена; след това заживява пълноценно като такава, с всички радости и болки и непрекъснато търсейки себе си. Книгата е немногословна ретроспекция на нейните бягства: от самотата без партньор и самотата в брака, от ограниченията и странностите в семейството й и от мъжете, от порядките, които не й понасят и от собствените й принципи, от фобиите и неосъзнатия й еврейски произход. В тези си бягства ни разхожда из Америка, Европа и Ливан и с чувство за хумор споделя за манталитета и навиците на хората там, разказва за интересни местенца, липсващи в пътеводителите и за своето израстване и промяна. Тя се спасява не само в авантюри, изфантазирани и реални, но и в мълчание или писане на книги, но сексът и циничният й език са това, което изпъква на пръв поглед.

Под тях обаче се крият не само сложната същност на Айсидора Зелда, но и добре развитите, запомнящи се образи на хората, пресекли живота й - семейство, приятели, роднини, мъже, любовници, психоаналитици, случайни познати... Сбор от по-често измъчени и странни съдби, белязани от грешки във възпитанието, професионална деформация, междукултурни различия, религиозни и морални ограничения.
Книгата си струва четенето. Дори и от тези, които държат да впечатляват с непорочно мислене и стерилен език. (less)

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Nov 22, 2012 Dan rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one of those books, and authors, I've heard of without knowing much about it or her. There's a reference to her in one of Bob Dylan's songs;

She said; "you don't read women authors do you?"
I said; "You're way wrong",
She said "Which ones have you read then?"
I said, "I've read Erica Jong"

Ok, it's not exactly Dylan at his best but it certainly made me wonder how balanced my reading was. I didn't think this was particularly radical, but then over thirty years of social change is bound to gi...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Debbie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Saw a really funny you tube clip with Dr. Ruth, who is so like my Nan its funny. The clip is where she discusses fifty shades of grey and why the book has been so popular. She reminds us of the fuss caused with Lady Chatterleys Lover and Flying without fear in their day.

In someways this is the problem with kindle downloads, its just too easy to buy and in seconds I had Flying without fear.

I found Isadora's story tedious, it was so boring in parts I was dropping off to sleep. Explaining in minute...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Tlingit rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Uninitiated virgins

Recommended to Tlingit by: No one

I read this in the early 90's, I had remembered that it was suppose to be a cutting edge erotic story about a woman expressing herself and letting her inhibitions down. After I read it (because I gave the story a break figuring that at some point the REAL action would start,) I was pretty disappointed. My life had more interesting sex, more expression and more action than that book had and I wasn't out of my 20s yet. It made me wonder if the book was published to train women to have pathetic exp...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Katherine Williams rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book has been on my to-read list for years. On a recent vacation I thought it would be a fun read. At first it was but by the end of the book I was both disappointed and disgusted.
This book is often referred to as a feminist classic. As a cradle feminist I want to say: in my opinion this is not a feminist classic. First, the writing is not particulary good. Second, the protaganist is attracted to a man that is just plain disgusting. The worse part is she is in love with the jerk -- hardly t...more

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Jun 04, 2012 venezuela rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this because I was forced to. John Updike's quote on the cover made me. ('Uninhibited, erotic, delicious... a winner'). Not that I was looking for erotica or psychosis at all. I thought she spoke too much, wrote it like a kind of manual for men who want to understand women. Man-ual. Does that imply it's written for men? That is the kind of question I begin to wonder after completing such a literal read.

I might have preferred the movie version (which she clearly intended somewhere), howev...more

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Feb 08, 2012 Rachel rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bookclub

Catching up on 2011 reviews...it was exactly worth 2 stars. It was OK in the end.

Finished this for July book club. I thought I'd read this my first year out of college, but once complete I realized I'd given up on it before. I almost did again -- if there'd been a plot review on Wikipedia so I could participate comfortably in discussion, I would not have finished. I disliked the main character up until the last tenth. Her development was seriously arrested somewhere around 10th grade. She was so...more

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Dec 27, 2011 Melissa Field rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I absolutely love this book. At first I was shocked by Erica's direct way of talking about things. But the more I read the more I realized how afraid I am of sexuality. She was so brave and open and I just wanted to grab some wine and drink with the awesome woman who wrote this. I laughed out loud several times. I loved how she had been through real struggles (sorry Elizabeth Gilbert) and had lived to tell about it. She was so brave, honest and open and I couldn't put the book down until I was d...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Kimberly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: general-fiction, library, psychology, relationships, sexuality, sociology, womens-studies

There is something to be said about a writer that creates a relatable, all engrossing world within the pages of her book. For me, that is a marker of good writing – writing that speaks to me and allows me to be taken on a ride within the world of the protagonist. This creates a story that has me compulsively turning pages, eager to read more. A good writer creates a protagonist that leads herself to be a transparent guide to understand the world through her eyes, to relate her experiences with m...more

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Aug 07, 2011 Samuel Williams rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

How is it that Isadora Wing is such a sympathetic character? She has sex on the brain constantly; she dreams about 'zipless fucks' in train carriages with strangers. Over the course of Fear of Flying, she sleeps with hundreds of men. By our society's standards, she'd be 'a slut', 'a whore', 'a loose woman'. And yet, in Jong's eyes, she's merely human. She rides through the novel on a roller coaster of the same emotions that all of us, women and men, feel. Isadora is no worse than all the sleazy...more How is it that Isadora Wing is such a sympathetic character? She has sex on the brain constantly; she dreams about 'zipless fucks' in train carriages with strangers. Over the course of Fear of Flying, she sleeps with hundreds of men. By our society's standards, she'd be 'a slut', 'a whore', 'a loose woman'. And yet, in Jong's eyes, she's merely human. She rides through the novel on a roller coaster of the same emotions that all of us, women and men, feel. Isadora is no worse than all the sleazy men of Europe, 'opening their doors and whispering vieni, vieni' – so why does it shock us to hear a woman expressing her own feelings of unmitigated sexual desire? Answer: it shouldn't, and after three hundred pages of Jong's writing, it won't. This is why Fear of Flying is such a valuable experience for male readers – it has the potential to change the way we think about sex and the female brain.

Isadora's narration has such an energetic flow that one can't help but accelerate into it. Before I knew it, I'd been swept away on one of her tangents about sex or family or literature. The constant philosophising seemed didactic at first, but I soon accepted it as a crucial attribute of Jong's writing. Perhaps this is the quintessential 'feminine' style, rich in literary multitasking – a foil to the dominant 'masculine' style of the past thousand years where the author describes events more or less as they unfold, one at a time. What Isadora thinks and wants is as important as, if not more important than, what she does.

So what does she think? What does she want? It's difficult to say, because it changes from chapter to chapter, even from page to page. She wants to be with others, she wants to be alone, she wants to take risks, she wants to be secure, she wants to be with Bennet, she wants to be with Adrian, she wants to be independent, she wants to be a housewife. This seems to be one of Jong's key messages: feelings of attraction and desire are, by their very nature, in a constant state of flux. To try to diagnose Isadora, to analyse her, categorise her, would be futile – hence the irony of all the psychoanalysis that permeates the novel. Freud's theories are given some credence, but Jong ultimately implies that they are flawed and simplistic – perhaps because Freud 'thought the sun revolved around the penis.' To quote D.H. Lawrence in the epigraph of Chapter 18 – (this book is so layered with references that each chapter has its own epigraph!) – 'The real trouble about women is that they must always go on trying to adapt themselves to men's theories of women.' Isadora is simply Isadora. We cannot sum her up; the only way to experience her is to be exposed to three hundred pages of her experiences, her thoughts, her feelings. As such, the parameters of any slice of her life are going to be somewhat arbitrary – who can say how she will change in the years after the novel ends? – but Jong gives us a remarkable picture of her, absorbing and memorable, right to the very last page.(less)

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Mar 19, 2011 Sarah rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

20 million copies sold? A seminal feminist classic? I am nothing short of incredulous. I'd say it was the pseudo-intellectual self-absorbed ramblings of a spoilt 29-year-old 'poet' that does not stand the test of time.

But let me first say, I'm not one to dole out 1* reviews. This is my first, and as an author myself, I've wondered what can motivate a reader to such an action. But now, thank you Erica, I have seen the light! It's when the distance between the reader's expectations and what is del...more 20 million copies sold? A seminal feminist classic? I am nothing short of incredulous. I'd say it was the pseudo-intellectual self-absorbed ramblings of a spoilt 29-year-old 'poet' that does not stand the test of time.

But let me first say, I'm not one to dole out 1* reviews. This is my first, and as an author myself, I've wondered what can motivate a reader to such an action. But now, thank you Erica, I have seen the light! It's when the distance between the reader's expectations and what is delivered are such poles apart as to provoke a huge desire to redress the balance for the sake of anyone stumbling upon these reader reviews. Or that's my motivation anyway.

In summary: this is a racist not racy, self-absorbed not self-enlightened, memoir-thinly-masquerading-as-fiction. If I hadn't been reading it for my book group, there is NO WAY I'd have got through it, as I haven't met such an insufferable protagonist in as long as I can remember (if ever). Isadora Wing (aka Erica Jong) is spoilt beyond belief, has access to education, money and family support, name drops like a teenager desperate to impress with her literary knowledge, but despite her own ego, is a really rather rubbish writer.

Her style is repetitive and rambling, full or irritating asides and diversions, but what really irks is she has not a good word to say about anybody - not her long-suffering family, her countless shrinks (they had their work cut out there), her two ex husbands, no one. Everyone is dug at, put down, moaned about - even the poor folk sitting in the same carriage as her on a train are described as `a stuffy American professor, his dowdy wife, and their drooly baby'. Even if we aren't supposed to like her, to read several hundred pages in such negative, whiny tone of voice gets tiresome without anything positive to act as a contrast.

She may write refreshingly honestly about sex (but most of her encounters seem to be with impotent men and seemed tame indeed to my 21st century sensibilities) but THAT IS ALL. And given the book's reputation, I expected more emphasis on sexuality and fantasy and less on pseudo intellectualism and psychoanalysis.

If FoF was a classic at the time, it has not stood up to the forty odd years that have passed since. I consider myself a feminist, but even from that historical perspective, there are surely other books that are a lot more informative and interesting. The Second Sex, for example, which predates Jong by two decades still resonates today, and fiction-wise, Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber was published only six years later but is far more erotic and subtle when it comes to exploring female sexuality and fantasies.

Finally, an aside, my parents were at the Viennese congress she writes of, and I gather this `novel' upset a fair few folk upon its publication after the event. I presume it's only because she didn't put her own name to the heroine that shrinks such as `Adrian' and `Bennett', or a member of her family - her poor sister `Randy' for instance - didn't sue her for defamation.

Shame, I'd have loved to have seen it.

(less)

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Oct 23, 2010 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For some reason it seemed to take me forever to read this book – I’m not sure why, it just felt my progress was really slow, even though I enjoyed the book as a whole.

In particular, I think she has a certain skill for pithy one-liners (“Show me a woman who doesn’t feel guilty and I’ll show you a man”) and a witty - although self-indulgent - writing style (at least in this book) which I found I could enjoy, whilst simultaneously hoping I was not at all like the central character, Isadora. Althoug...more

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Jul 06, 2010 Cheryl Gardner added it · review of another edition Recommends it for: women over 40 and all men

I am embarrassed to say that I just got around to reading Fear of Flying. I know, I know. In '73 when it came out, it was lauded as one of the greatest works of literature of all time, and it is. It was one of the first books to explore the feminist psyche in such an unapologetic way, and one of the first to do so written in the style of a fictional memoir. However, I wouldn't have really been able to relate to it as deeply in my Twenties, but now that I am well into my Forties and have one divo...more

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About Erica Jong

Erica Jong—novelist, poet, and essayist—has consistently used her craft to help provide women with a powerful and rational voice in forging a feminist consciousness. She has published 21 books, including eight novels, six volumes of poetry, six books of non-fiction and numerous articles in magazines and newspapers such as the New York Times, the Sunday Times of London, Elle, Vogue, and the New Yor...more

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“It was easy enough to kill yourself in a fit of despair. It was easy enough to play the martyr. It was harder to do nothing. To endure your life. To wait.” — 190 people liked it

“The ultimate sexist put-down: the prick which lies down on the job. The ultimate weapon in the war between the sexes: the limp prick. The banner of the enemy's encampment: the prick at half-mast. The symbol of the apocalypse: the atomic warhead prick which self-destructs. That was the basic inequity which could never be righted: not that the male had a wonderful added attraction called a penis, but that the female had a wonderful all-weather cunt. Neither storm nor sleet nor dark of night could faze it. It was always there, always ready. Quite terrifying, when you think about it. No wonder men hated women. No wonder they invented the myth of female inadequacy.” — 124 people liked it

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