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Inventing Memory
"A sexy tale celebrating the strength and creativity we inherit from our mothers" (Glamour), Inventing Memory is Erica Jong's mesmerizing, beautifully written saga of modern womanhood and the struggle for freedom, vividly brought to life through four generations of remarkable mothers and daughters.With more than 22 million copies of her blockbuster books sold worldwide, novelist, poet, and essayist Erica Jong has been stirring the passions of readers for 25 years, giving voice to contemporary women and the issues that define their lives. From her controversial classic Fear of Flying to her acclaimed Fear of Fifty, legions of fans trust her for witty, innovative, gutsy writing. Now comes her most ambitious and satisfying novel yet.
Spanning a hundred years, Inventing Memory captures the whole of the twentieth century through four unforgettable women whose stories come alive through Sara, the youngest. A single mother working on an extraordinary research project, Sara carefully excavates the lives of her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother to understand the roots of her own identity. Drawn to these women, she discovers the power and passion that is her matriarchal birthright, and learns the meaning and substance of her exceptional family and the legacy she will pass to her daughter.
Rich ... brimming with trenchant observations about the eternal man -- woman thing". -- New York Times Book Review
Spanning a hundred years, Inventing Memory captures the whole of the twentieth century through four unforgettable women whose stories come alive through Sara, the youngest. A single mother working on an extraordinary research project, Sara carefully excavates the lives of her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother to understand the roots of her own identity. Drawn to these women, she discovers the power and passion that is her matriarchal birthright, and learns the meaning and substance of her exceptional family and the legacy she will pass to her daughter.
Rich ... brimming with trenchant observations about the eternal man -- woman thing". -- New York Times Book Review
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
6 people are currently reading
225 people want to read
About the author
Erica Jong
118 books860 followersErica 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 York Times Book Review.
In her groundbreaking first novel, Fear of Flying (which has sold twenty-six million copies in more than forty languages), she introduced Isadora Wing, who also plays a central part in three subsequent novels—How to Save Your Own Life, Parachutes and Kisses, and Any Woman's Blues. In her three historical novels—Fanny, Shylock's Daughter, and Sappho's Leap—she demonstrates her mastery of eighteenth-century British literature, the verses of Shakespeare, and ancient Greek lyric, respectively. A memoir of her life as a writer, Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life, came out in March 2006. It was a national bestseller in the US and many other countries. Erica’s latest book, Sugar in My Bowl, is an anthology of women writing about sex, has been recently released in paperback.
Erica Jong was honored with the United Nations Award for Excellence in Literature. She has also received Poetry magazine's Bess Hokin Prize, also won by W.S. Merwin and Sylvia Plath. In France, she received the Deauville Award for Literary Excellence and in Italy, she received the Sigmund Freud Award for Literature. The City University of New York awarded Ms. Jong an honorary PhD at the College of Staten Island.
Her works have appeared all over the world and are as popular in Eastern Europe, Japan, China, and other Asian countries as they have been in the United States and Western Europe. She has lectured, taught and read her work all over the world.
A graduate of Barnard College and Columbia University's Graduate Faculties where she received her M.A. in 18th Century English Literature, Erica Jong also attended Columbia's graduate writing program where she studied poetry with Stanley Kunitz and Mark Strand. In 2007, continuing her long-standing relationship with the university, a large collection of Erica’s archival material was acquired by Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library, where it will be available to graduate and undergraduate students. Ms. Jong plans to teach master classes at Columbia and also advise the Rare Book Library on the acquisition of other women writers’ archives.
Calling herself “a defrocked academic,” Ms. Jong has partly returned to her roots as a scholar. She has taught at Ben Gurion University in Israel, Bennington College in the US, Breadloaf Writers’ Conference in Vermont and many other distinguished writing programs and universities. She loves to teach and lecture, though her skill in these areas has sometimes crowded her writing projects. “As long as I am communicating the gift of literature, I’m happy,” Jong says. A poet at heart, Ms. Jong believes that words can save the world.
In her groundbreaking first novel, Fear of Flying (which has sold twenty-six million copies in more than forty languages), she introduced Isadora Wing, who also plays a central part in three subsequent novels—How to Save Your Own Life, Parachutes and Kisses, and Any Woman's Blues. In her three historical novels—Fanny, Shylock's Daughter, and Sappho's Leap—she demonstrates her mastery of eighteenth-century British literature, the verses of Shakespeare, and ancient Greek lyric, respectively. A memoir of her life as a writer, Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life, came out in March 2006. It was a national bestseller in the US and many other countries. Erica’s latest book, Sugar in My Bowl, is an anthology of women writing about sex, has been recently released in paperback.
Erica Jong was honored with the United Nations Award for Excellence in Literature. She has also received Poetry magazine's Bess Hokin Prize, also won by W.S. Merwin and Sylvia Plath. In France, she received the Deauville Award for Literary Excellence and in Italy, she received the Sigmund Freud Award for Literature. The City University of New York awarded Ms. Jong an honorary PhD at the College of Staten Island.
Her works have appeared all over the world and are as popular in Eastern Europe, Japan, China, and other Asian countries as they have been in the United States and Western Europe. She has lectured, taught and read her work all over the world.
A graduate of Barnard College and Columbia University's Graduate Faculties where she received her M.A. in 18th Century English Literature, Erica Jong also attended Columbia's graduate writing program where she studied poetry with Stanley Kunitz and Mark Strand. In 2007, continuing her long-standing relationship with the university, a large collection of Erica’s archival material was acquired by Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library, where it will be available to graduate and undergraduate students. Ms. Jong plans to teach master classes at Columbia and also advise the Rare Book Library on the acquisition of other women writers’ archives.
Calling herself “a defrocked academic,” Ms. Jong has partly returned to her roots as a scholar. She has taught at Ben Gurion University in Israel, Bennington College in the US, Breadloaf Writers’ Conference in Vermont and many other distinguished writing programs and universities. She loves to teach and lecture, though her skill in these areas has sometimes crowded her writing projects. “As long as I am communicating the gift of literature, I’m happy,” Jong says. A poet at heart, Ms. Jong believes that words can save the world.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
June 25, 2011
I had a lot more fun writing mean things about this book in my blog than I did reading it. But I finished it so that I could write mean things!
Whatever. This wasn't a total loss, because I like it when I read something and have lots to say about it. That doesn't always happen. So, two stars instead of one.
Now go read the mean things I wrote!
http://angleboc.blogspot.com/2011/06/...
Whatever. This wasn't a total loss, because I like it when I read something and have lots to say about it. That doesn't always happen. So, two stars instead of one.
Now go read the mean things I wrote!
http://angleboc.blogspot.com/2011/06/...
January 22, 2011
In Inventing Memory, Jong weaves an epic of four generations of independent and creative Jewish women. Fleeing the pogroms of Russia, Sarah Solomon immigrates to New York City, and becomes a professional artist. Her daughter Salome is a flapper who parties in Paris, only to return home as the Depression hits to uncover secrets of her past. Salome's daughter Sally rises to stardom as a celebrated folksinger of the 1960's. But she can't take the pressures of fame, and descends into alcoholism and obscurity.
Her daughter in turn, Sara avoids the excesses of her mother and grandmother and focuses on her career as a historian. Working in the archives of the Council on Jewish History, she finds a photograph of a woman she believes to be her great-grandmother, Sarah. And so the family saga comes full circle.
The story is told through both direct narration by the characters as well as letters and journal entries, which gives an interesting variety and adds texture. Jong sometimes alternates perspectives and time periods, but I didn't find it hard to follow. The prose was richly descriptive, passionate and often filled with wise and poignant observations about the meaning of life, family relationships and Jewish identity.
Her daughter in turn, Sara avoids the excesses of her mother and grandmother and focuses on her career as a historian. Working in the archives of the Council on Jewish History, she finds a photograph of a woman she believes to be her great-grandmother, Sarah. And so the family saga comes full circle.
The story is told through both direct narration by the characters as well as letters and journal entries, which gives an interesting variety and adds texture. Jong sometimes alternates perspectives and time periods, but I didn't find it hard to follow. The prose was richly descriptive, passionate and often filled with wise and poignant observations about the meaning of life, family relationships and Jewish identity.
April 20, 2020
A story of a Jewish family or rather the women in NY. It was good. It made me think about the different generations and how "a woman's heart holds many secrets" to paraphrase the Titanic quote. (I said it was good in this review, but I had totally forgotten that I had read it.)
Read
April 25, 2009Although I couldn't see myself in any of the generations of women in this book, they were realistic and I could believe everything. Very interesting. It reminds me of why I love Erica Jong.
July 19, 2018
I'm a healthy chunk through the book (actually I am listening to it - read by Melissa Manchester) and I am enjoying every minute. Ms. Manchester is an excellent mimic of accents and that wonderful, rich voice of hers colors and adds so much dimension to the characters. I read in a review where the reviewer felt that each story became less with each Levitsky woman's retelling of her life and that the richness of her character diminishes with the compromises she makes. When I finish this novel, I will write more, but for now, having listened to Sarah's life and now on to Salome's life story, I am drinking in their experiences.
I remind myself that the first settlers in a new land seem so much more exciting than the subsequent generations only for the fact that the initial risk and challenges were so different from their previous life and where shared with family memories. As the ante is upped, so to speak, the sparkle of adventure and danger may be dimmed by an established family carving a place for themselves - even if they manage to go as did Salome to Europe. Socioeconomic strides have been made which alters what is ground breaking or even remarkable and more than likely they leave out of small details that are considered to be everyday occurrences so that doesn't get relayed to family members.
I remind myself that the first settlers in a new land seem so much more exciting than the subsequent generations only for the fact that the initial risk and challenges were so different from their previous life and where shared with family memories. As the ante is upped, so to speak, the sparkle of adventure and danger may be dimmed by an established family carving a place for themselves - even if they manage to go as did Salome to Europe. Socioeconomic strides have been made which alters what is ground breaking or even remarkable and more than likely they leave out of small details that are considered to be everyday occurrences so that doesn't get relayed to family members.
July 19, 2025
After reading Molly Jong-Fast's book about her mother, I have been catching up on the Erica Jong books since Any Women's Blues, none of which I'd read. This was one of them.
I didn't love it. I don't know how much this was informed by reading Jong-Fast's book, but I noticed a lot of the same patterns. Aside from that, I noticed a couple of other things. First of all, it seemed like every character was really Jong and shared some of Jong's real-life experiences. (This is not unusual for writers, of course.) So it was kind of repetitious; take Fear of Flying, run it through a blender, and assign certain characteristics to different characters, where some of them were artists or musicians rather than writers. (I found the musician character particularly deus ex machina; somehow she became rich and famous and it was hard to tell why.)
Second, there were things about the "daughters" in the book that made me feel uncomfortable, thinking about what it would be like reading this as the writer's daughter.
Finally, with multiple female characters all starting with the letter S, and chapters that weren't chronological, I sometimes found it hard to tell which character we were talking about.
I didn't love it. I don't know how much this was informed by reading Jong-Fast's book, but I noticed a lot of the same patterns. Aside from that, I noticed a couple of other things. First of all, it seemed like every character was really Jong and shared some of Jong's real-life experiences. (This is not unusual for writers, of course.) So it was kind of repetitious; take Fear of Flying, run it through a blender, and assign certain characteristics to different characters, where some of them were artists or musicians rather than writers. (I found the musician character particularly deus ex machina; somehow she became rich and famous and it was hard to tell why.)
Second, there were things about the "daughters" in the book that made me feel uncomfortable, thinking about what it would be like reading this as the writer's daughter.
Finally, with multiple female characters all starting with the letter S, and chapters that weren't chronological, I sometimes found it hard to tell which character we were talking about.
January 25, 2022
Un viaggio lungo un secolo, alla scoperta dell’America e dell’Europa e della vita di quattro donne straordinarie, voci di quattro epoche diverse, che illustrano i grandi cambiamenti, la bellezza e le brutture del Novecento.
Sarah.
Salome.
Sally.
Sara.
Un libro, questo, che racconta il rapporto madre-figlia, il potere della discendenza, della memoria. Quattro donne che hanno fatto le loro scelte, giuste e sbagliate, che hanno subito l’influenza del loro tempo, e che hanno riscattato la figura femminile, che non è più predestinata esclusivamente al matrimonio; il matrimonio rappresenta UNA delle possibilità.
Erica Jong sa essere profonda senza dover adottare necessariamente uno stile altisonante. Nella narrazione pone diversi interrogativi tutt’altro che scontati, spaziando da temi come la sessualità femminile alla religione (ebraica in questo caso), dalla malattia mentale ai motivi dell’antisemitismo e dello sterminio della Shoah.
Vi consiglio di leggerlo! Mi ha tenuta incollata alle pagine per tutto il tempo!!
Sarah.
Salome.
Sally.
Sara.
Un libro, questo, che racconta il rapporto madre-figlia, il potere della discendenza, della memoria. Quattro donne che hanno fatto le loro scelte, giuste e sbagliate, che hanno subito l’influenza del loro tempo, e che hanno riscattato la figura femminile, che non è più predestinata esclusivamente al matrimonio; il matrimonio rappresenta UNA delle possibilità.
Erica Jong sa essere profonda senza dover adottare necessariamente uno stile altisonante. Nella narrazione pone diversi interrogativi tutt’altro che scontati, spaziando da temi come la sessualità femminile alla religione (ebraica in questo caso), dalla malattia mentale ai motivi dell’antisemitismo e dello sterminio della Shoah.
Vi consiglio di leggerlo! Mi ha tenuta incollata alle pagine per tutto il tempo!!
March 14, 2019
I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Erica Jong.
Her most famous work, Fear of Flying, is without a doubt a one of my all-time favorite books (is it time to re-read it yet)? It first came out in 1973 when I was in high school. Lots of good information (file under: sex). I was blown away by the fact that a nice Jewish girl could be BAD and get away with it. What a concept.
Inventing Memory is a charming read with lots of interesting characters (especially Sally Sky). Not as over-the-top-mind-blowing as Fear of Flying, but lots of honest insights into the way things are (and probably always will be).
Her most famous work, Fear of Flying, is without a doubt a one of my all-time favorite books (is it time to re-read it yet)? It first came out in 1973 when I was in high school. Lots of good information (file under: sex). I was blown away by the fact that a nice Jewish girl could be BAD and get away with it. What a concept.
Inventing Memory is a charming read with lots of interesting characters (especially Sally Sky). Not as over-the-top-mind-blowing as Fear of Flying, but lots of honest insights into the way things are (and probably always will be).
May 12, 2020
Normally I find Erica Jong to be an interesting writer, but this book was not one of her better ones. The first part of the book starts off okay, but then nosedives through each successive generation. The plot also seems to be rushed after the halfway point, when it feels like Jong just got bored with her characters and hurried them to their conclusions. And while smut is a hallmark of Jong's work, it usually has a purpose in her plots. Here it felt like it was just thrown in to make the book reach a set amount of pages.
June 27, 2021
This is the narrative of three generations of Jewish women, all with their own unique creative gifts. The writing is very prosaic and I learned more about Jewish history, including the reactions to the Holocaust from Americans in the mid 1900s. It was very interesting to trace the lineage of these women throughout all their trials and jubilations.
May 17, 2023
What I have liked most about the book are the memories of my parents who came from Europe. I remember my father of blessed memory recalled only speaking Yiddish at home. He was born in the US, but his parents came from Russia. My mother of blessed memory only could speak German and she was born in Germany (maybe Poland now).
May 16, 2019
I love Erica Jong's writing and, although this is not her best writing, it's a good story and provides her trademark insights. She is candid, literate, and has a unique perspective.
April 8, 2016
A fictional Jewish family memoir (subtitled A Novel of Mothers and Daughters) begins with a gripping description of an infant’s death as he is pressed against his mother’s breast while she and others hide from Cossacks, and continues through the wrenching “differences” between mothers and daughters over the decades in America. So many quotables, I may purchase it just to pass along to Dana at some point , but I guess she’s too young right now. One favorite: “Mothers and daughters -- it’s a comedy, but also a tragedy. We fill our daughters with all the chutzpah we wish for ourselves. We want them to be free as we were not. And then we resent them for being so free. We resent them for being what we have made! With granddaughters, it’s so much easier. And great-granddaughters.”
Read
February 27, 2009Another book about the complicated Mother-Daughter relationship. This book delves into a strange phenomena that I have experienced with my mother...each generation wants their daughter to have more freedom, more opportunity, and more choices, yet in the end the mother often grows resentful of her daughter who has had those choices, opportunities and freedoms that she did not have. Instead of being proud, the mother cannot identify with her daughter and a rift forms.
October 26, 2010
Like her views on mother/daughter/grandmother relationshops. So many ways of veiwing these relationships, what differnces they can make in our lives, if they existed or uf they are lacking. How would my grandmother, mother and I have been differnt if my great grandmother hadn't died when my grandmother was a small child? So many of us have so little information about the women whose dna we share.
September 11, 2007
I got completely absorbed in all of the characters lives... Jong goes through 5 generations of Jewish-American womyn weaving in culture, history and relationships. This book has moments of Jong's creative sexuality as in Fear of Flying, but because it also packs so much more in, it's a book for everyone...
December 16, 2007
This book tells the story of four generations of Jewish women. The first leaves Russia during a pogrom, the second is a flapper during the 20's in Paris, the third is a famous folk singer in the 60's, and the fourth is a historian researching her family history, which is how we learn about all of the others. It's a story of relationships and of history and how they intertwine.
April 13, 2015
I miss Erica Jong. It has been too long since I was graced by her beautiful writing.
There were many familiar characters and settings in this book, many of them way
more career driven and political than I have in my lineage. The Yiddish was colorful
and after 50 plus years I now know what "kine hora " means and it is not at all what
I had guessed as a child.
There were many familiar characters and settings in this book, many of them way
more career driven and political than I have in my lineage. The Yiddish was colorful
and after 50 plus years I now know what "kine hora " means and it is not at all what
I had guessed as a child.
September 1, 2009
Enjoyable account of 4 generations of women and their influence on each other across the generations through their Jewish heritage, their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their chosen forms of artistic expression.
February 28, 2010
I must be not getting something about Jong here, since people write essays on this book whereas I can only come up with a one-liner, but to me this reads like a bad soft-porn pastiche of Lyudmila Ulitskaya.
October 24, 2014
Erica Jong is known as a feminist writer. In my mind, though, she simply writes stories from a woman's point of view. This one explores how woman balance their need for career success with their need for loving relationships, particularly those between mothers and daughters.
June 7, 2019
Like Jong but this left me confused. The genogram at beginning was no help what with characters changing names as well as being named the same. I finally had to make my own chart just to keep it straight. It took some work, then I was able to enjoy.
September 2, 2008
I've read other Erica Jong books which I loved. This one... not so much. I am not sure why, but it just didn't grab me at all.
September 25, 2008
Excellent prose with interweaving tales. Enjoyed it completely
January 25, 2009
A lot of good wisdom
Read
March 1, 2009HC
September 7, 2009
"Lucretia had the soul of a headwaiter - at your feet or at your throat." ~ Sarah/Sophia Levitsky.
Yum.
Yum.
June 4, 2010
I ended up not reading this book, but flipping through it just so I knew what happened to each character. The first character was great, but it fell away after that.
December 13, 2011
Boring chased by slutty sensationalism. The end.
December 9, 2012
Jewish four generations settling in America. Very Good.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews