Jong, Erica
Average customer rating:
- Not What I Expected - A Bit Dull And Wordy
- loved this book
- OH WOW
- Great book, a classic, good value
- Beautiful Novel
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Jane Eyre (Signet Classics)
Charlotte Brontë
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
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- Wuthering Heights (Bantam Classics)
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- Wide Sargasso Sea: A Novel (Norton Paperback Fiction)
- Emma (Penguin Classics)
- A Tale of Two Cities (Signet Classics)
ASIN: 0451526554 |
Book Description
Cambridge Literature is a series of literary texts edited for study by students aged 14–18 in English-speaking classrooms. It will include novels, poetry, short stories, essays, travel-writing and other non-fiction. The series will be extensive and open-ended and will provide school students with a range of edited texts taken from a wide geographical spread. It will include writing in English from various genres and differing times.??Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is edited by Susan Cockcroft of Mackworth College, Derby.
Download Description
Orphaned into the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead, subject to the cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane Eyre none the less emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity. How she takes up the post of governess at Thornfield Hall, meets and loves Mr Rochester and discovers the impediment to their lawful marriage are elements in a story that transcends melodrama to portray a woman's passionate search for a wider and richer life than that traditionally accorded to her sex in Victorian society.
Customer Reviews:
Not What I Expected - A Bit Dull And Wordy.......2007-06-21
A young girl is orphaned as a baby and is entrusted to her uncle and his family. When her uncle dies, it falls to her aunt to provide her care. Unfortunately, her aunt despises the young girl and eventually finds a way to send the young girl away. The young girl, Jane Eyre, enters a boarding school for girls of less significant means and it is there she can truly begin to take charge of her life and where her adventures, so to speak, begin.
Jane Eyre did catch me up immediately and keep me involved through the first half of the book. It moved fairly quickly. However, I thought the story dragged a bit about halfway and throughout the second half. Personally, I found the book suffered from what most Romance era and Gothic writers had an affinity for: why use 5 words when 15 or 20 will do. The novel became wordy and overlong at times and I found myself putting it down for long periods of time. Quite frankly, I think the story is better told in the myriad of movies that have been released. I am quite at a loss as to exactly why this novel is such the classic it is.
The character of Jane Eyre bothered me as well, but I think she was more truthfully written and my dislike reflects the wordy nature of the book. Jane is morally strong - and that is to be admired - but she is so emotionally cold - I never imagined her being "in love," passionate or otherwise. Even though she states she is in love, there seems to be no passion or fire. What an oddly matched pair! Though, I get the same feelings when I read Jane Austen, so perhaps readers of Ms. Austen's novels will appreciate this one.
This novel is not all terrible, despite what I've said. It is engaging, though I think parts can be skimmed. Those who absolutely adore Gothic romance will love it. Those of us who find Gothic romance dull and dreary will find this novel less than enchanting.
loved this book.......2007-06-08
In highschool I was assigned Jane Eyre to read & only read the clift notes, even that was interesting enough to bring me back to the book later in the summer when I had more time. It is considered a romance by many people but It's nothing like the little paperbacks that tennybopper girls read. It is a truly interesting book. I never know if I will like the "classics" or not (some just bore me to tears) but this one is a classic for a reason. It's one of the few books I've gone back & read twice. Love it, it takes you on a journey.
OH WOW.......2007-06-05
haha im into horror books.. but we had to do an Historical Fiction book report recently and i remember my mom buying me this book saying i should read it in high school, im in 7th grade, I have to say this is probably the best book i have ever read, although after she left mr.Rochester i wanted to stop because i thought it would just be depressing. but im glad i went on. Bronte is an amazing writer, I fell in love with mr.Rochester and it broke my heart knowing that he was blind. haha well i can't wait to find her other books and readd them.
Great book, a classic, good value.......2007-04-11
I love a good book and this is certainly one of them.
Beautiful Novel.......2007-03-02
With this novel Ms. Bronte crafted what is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful works of the English language. One concern I always have with reading classics is to avoid their introductions as they inevitably forego on the minute details of the work (I suppose they assume everyone who's someone has already read it.) As such, I'll avoid disclosing the inner workings of the plot of Jane Eyre -- it's too beautiful to divulge and I hope you'll take up the novel for yourself.
Simply put, we see Jane Eyre, the epitome of the term "Plain Jane," evolve from mistreated orphan as she ascends the ladder of social status and, as with all bildungsroman novels, plummets to an even further depth than whence she came. We read as our heroine negotiates the complexities of early Victorian womanhood and confronts the haunting past of her mysterious master, all in the quest for conflicting longings for self-satisfaction, independence, and love.
If interested, the reader may also enjoy Jean Rhys' 1966 classic novel Wide Sargasso Sea, which traces the story of Jane's symbolic inner woman, the "mad" Antoinette "Bertha" Mason.
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Half-Lives
Erica Jong
Manufacturer: Henry Holt & Co (P)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0030074118 |
Average customer rating:
- much better than Sex in the City in describing real relationships and the complexity of being a woman in the wake of Feminism
- Fear of Flying: Fear of Life
- Girls Rule!
- a wonderful, passionate book
- The search for the great white male
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Fear of Flying
Erica Jong
Manufacturer: NAL Trade
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- How to Save Your Own Life
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ASIN: 0451209435
Release Date: 2003-11-04 |
Book Description
Originally published in 1973, the ground-breaking, uninhibited story of Isadora Wing and her desire to fly free caused a national sensation-and sold more than twelve million copies. Now, after thirty years, the iconic novel still stands as a timeless tale of self-discovery, liberation, and womanhood.<br/><br/>Originally published in 1973, this uninhibited story of Isadora Wing was a national sensation: fueling fantasies, igniting debates, and even introducing a notorious new phrase to the English language. In The New York Times, Henry Miller compared it to his own classic Tropic of Cancer, predicting, "This book will make literary history, that because of it women are going to find their own voice and give us great sagas of sex, life, joy, and adventure." It went on to sell more than twelve million copies. Today, Fear of Flying is a classic--a timeless tale of self-discovery, liberation, and womanhood.
Customer Reviews:
much better than Sex in the City in describing real relationships and the complexity of being a woman in the wake of Feminism.......2006-06-21
Erica Jong really accurately describes the complexity of relationships, desire, love, dependence and freedom. Even though this book is seen as a symbol of the women's liberation movement in the 70s (which is before I was born), it's not at all out of date.
I read Fear of Flying straight though, looking for the answers to the most difficult questions: how do I remain independent without just being lonely? how can we control love, others, and ourselves? what makes a relationship work? where does sex come into the equation? what's love got to do with it? and what do you do when a relationship is pretty darn good but not perfect?
The book doesn't have an answer key, and doesn't try to simplify what is inherently complex. Instead it is vividly real, and sticks with you long after you're done reading it.
Fear of Flying: Fear of Life.......2006-04-29
This book was being gestated before I was, yet its messages still ring true. Women are still struggling with the search for the love, what it means to be a "good" woman, what it means to be a woman at all. Writers (aka: me) still struggle with the urge to write, the fear to write, the fear of failure, the search for self. Part rant, part story, part stream of consciousness, the sentiments/fears/etc. in this book hit very close to home, yet do give a hint of hope - we can find our way through the wilderness of life, and it's worth the living.
Girls Rule!.......2005-06-06
This book is, if nothing else, masterful in its delivery, prose, wit, and message. I was captivated from page one and reveled in the perspective, the commentary, and the timeliness of the themes -- this book was originally published in 1973, albeit you would be hard-pressed to argue that the material is altogether dated or irrelevant today. As another reviewer already indicated, this book would be easy to pigeonhole as "feminist" lit, but to do so would be a terrible injustice and would further deter those of us -- men -- from reading what ought to be required reading anyway. This is a book destined to be a classic.
a wonderful, passionate book.......2005-04-29
I stumbled across this book when I was 18 or 19, almost a decade ago. I did not expect to like it so much. Sure, some of the ideas and references are now rather outdated (the book was published in 1974) but at the time it first came out, the novel must've been revolutionary and groundbreaking for women. Many controversial themes are explored through the character of Isadora White Wing: sexual freedom, artistic freedom, marital dissatisfaction, a woman's desire to call her own shots and to be able to love whom she pleases. The book overflows with warmth, courage, and sometimes wisdom as spoken through the musings of the young female protagonist (Isadora is not yet 30). Reading this book had quite an impact on me. I read all the author's other books. The writing is simple and straightforward and very, very candid. At its core, Jong tells a story about the human heart from a woman's perspective.
The search for the great white male.......2005-04-02
This woman besides being as astute an observer of the human condition as Bellow, is well versed, even gifted at the literary craft as any I have ever read.An original. I am trying my best to come up with a reason for not bothering to have read it before. Imaturity or inexperience perhaps.She paints herself as a very kind and honest woman although its very clear how a generation would seek to vilify or ignore her.Don't waste time wondering if she will turn out to be the next Herman Melville, read it now.
Average customer rating:
- Terrible
- how i saved my own life
- The Ladies encore to FEAR OF FLYING........
- Love her writing style
- America's Lady of Letters...
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How to Save Your Own Life
Erica Jong
Manufacturer: Tarcher
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- Fear of Fifty
- Any Woman's Blues: A Novel of Obsession
ASIN: 1585424994
Release Date: 2006-07-06 |
Book Description
Erica Jong--like Isadora Wing, her fictional doppelganger--was rich and famous, brainy and beautiful, and soaring high with erotica and marijuana in 1977, the year this book was first published. Erica/Isadora are the perfect literary and libidinous guides for those readers who want to learn about-or just be reminded of-the sheer hedonistic innocence of the time. How to Save Your Own Life was praised by People for being "shameless, sex-saturated and a joy," and hailed by Anthony Burgess as one of the ninety-nine best novels published in English since 1939.
Customer Reviews:
Terrible.......2005-03-28
I found this in a used book store and was so happy. Then I read it and am no longer happy. Fear of Flying is one of those novels that I love and re-read often. It is truly funny and shows a whole range of emotions. This book is sadly lacking. Isadora turns whiny, her friends are caricatures. The unhappiness of this charcter seems pathetic and unimportant in this novel. Plus, I truly miss her family; those characters provided necessary contrast. This was a profound disappointment
how i saved my own life.......2003-11-23
I found out about Ms. Jong is a Salon interview this summer and decided that I had to go out and add "Fear of Flying" to my female writers repertoire, however as luck would have it, my local bookstore only had "how to save your own life," therefore I decided to read backwards and must say that her book had me `in' for days... Nothing, not even a strapping lad ready to give me the world and blahniks at hand, could break up the conversation Ms. Jong and I shared for a week straight on my couch. Ms. Jong is a wise woman, and I suggest this read to any woman who feels her life is cracking. This book is in my top ten and I think it will be in yours too soon.
The Ladies encore to FEAR OF FLYING...............2003-09-03
You don't have to read FEAR OF FLYING to enjoy this book but it would give you a little background to protagonist of this book: Isadora Wing.
Isadora is stuck in a marriage that is dying a slow painful death. She has begun affairs with several people to help her deal with her feelings or fulfill her needs that are not being met by her aloof, detached, and psychologically dominate husband of eight years. Isadora echoes many of the feelings modern women feel in their marriage and other relationships and is often very insightful.
Also, there are a few chilling moments in the book that took me by surprise. I won't give them away you will have to read the book.
So, Erica Jong takes you on a journey with Isadora while she tries to figure out what her future will hold and how to move forward with or with out her husband. This journey has lots of sexual liasons that are heartfelt, sad, and often hillarious. She speaks the truth about her sex experiences even if we are not ready to hear it.
Isadora is a woman who has gotten lost in the forest and can't see the trees because of the forest but is on a path of discovery. Isadora will discover friendship, betrayal, love, loss, and most of all courage.
I love Erica Jongs writing style. She is a realist but at times I often wonder how much of her books are fiction or autobiographical. I enjoyed her sequal to FEAR OF FLYING and do recommend it.
Love her writing style.......2002-12-20
This was an excellent book. Very very good.
America's Lady of Letters..........2001-10-12
...the Great Erica Jong.
I remember people comparing her to Phillip Roth when Fear of Flying and this came out and since I was into popular fiction a lil more back then than I am now, I vowed to read one of her books. Little did I know back then that she would become one of my favorite all time writers. And I agree that this would be the better offering of the first two novels, because Isadora Wing, to me, seems more real in this one. And it tells of going thru a emotionally sterile period in her life and how she reached fulfillment. Wing is Jong and if you want to get an idea of how and what a woman thinks without being intrusive and obtusive this is one good way to do it...(however, don't rely on this alone). There is outrageous erotica, verbal play and plenty of first person quips all thru it and you will be thoroughly entertained. Don't forget to get a load of Jong's poetry. Read also Jong's great piece on Henry Miller, "The Devil at Large". Excellent writing!
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- Sappho's Oddessey of religion and sexuality
- Very nice Historical Fiction
- Not bad, but not wonderful
- The Tenth Muse
- Sappho and sex.... and magic??
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Sappho's Leap: A Novel
Erica Jong
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
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ASIN: 039332561X |
Book Description
<B>"Sappho's Leap delights."—USA Today</B>
Sappho's Leap is a journey back 2,600 years to inhabit the mind of the greatest love poet the world has ever known. At the age of fourteen, Sappho is seduced by the beautiful poet Alcaeus, plots with him to overthrow the dictator of their island, and is caught and married off to a repellent older man in hopes that matrimony will keep her out of trouble. Instead, it starts her off on a series of amorous adventures with both men and women, taking her from Delphi to Egypt, and even to the Land of the Amazons and the shadowy realm of Hades.
Erica Jong—always our keenest-eyed chronicler of the wonders and vagaries of sex and love—has found the perfect subject for a witty and sensuous tale of a passionate woman ahead of her time. A generation of readers who have been moved to laughter and recognition by Jong's heroines will be enchanted anew by her re-creation of the immortal poet.
Customer Reviews:
Sappho's Oddessey of religion and sexuality.......2006-06-22
This book reminded me of when I took a mythology clas back in high school. but in this book, all the gods and goddesses really came alive! Erica Jong's sense of religion is astoudning. I found myself wanting to worship Aphrodite! Also the sexuality in his book is sensual, dreamy and it removes all "sin" from bisexuality. I was not previously aware that Pagans were free to be bisexual. After reading Sappho's encounters with members of both sexes, I started to realize the bisexuality in myself, and can no longer deny it.
Read this book to have fun and open your mind!
Very nice Historical Fiction.......2006-05-02
Saffo. As you have never seen her before. As a woman, a wise and a passionate soul. We have so little on Saffo that the Historical parts are more on the backbround of the historic age where she lived than on herself. A true history about her with the little things we have would not be possible. But the fiction is really very nice and this is one of my favourite books. I do reccomend this book to who likes this genre. Buy it.
Not bad, but not wonderful.......2006-03-03
I enjoyed reading this book, but I've definitely read better ones. The books tells the story of Sappho, the Greek poet/songstress of Lesbos. Yep, the one that inspired the word 'lesbian.' It's a biography of her life, so this is historical fiction, and it's kind of like an epic poem turned into a novel. Sometimes it came off too...intellectual? and not enough heartfelt. Like, I'd begin feeling like I was reading nonfiction instead of fiction. Other than that, it's a simple story with love, adventure, and magic, and it kept me suitably entertained, but not enthralled by any means. Go read it if you like Greek history and myth, otherwise I wouldn't recommend it.
The Tenth Muse.......2005-07-16
Many people have criticized this book of having too much sex. I have to disagree. The book deals with many subjects--love, friendship, motherhood, family...and yes, sex. Yet you have to understand this, since Sappho was a poet that dealt with, above all, erotic love. However, not all 291 pages of this novel concentrate on this subject. The reader will be transported to a whole different world, 2600 years ago, and travel to a place long ago forgotten. Along the way you will encounter people and creatures mentioned only in legends--amazons, minotaurs, sirens--and learn their way of living and the mythology associated with each. Erica Jong does a beautiful job of bringing Sappho to life, considering how little information remains of the woman Plato named "the tenth muse".
Sappho and sex.... and magic??.......2005-01-28
I have very mixed feelings about this book and can't say I enjoyed it all that much. I love the story of Sappho, what little is known of it, and so I picked up this book expecting to see a historical fiction novel cut with realism, research, and certainly the unavoidable necessary lewdness of the celebrity of Lesbos. But monsters? Centaurs? I mean, the story of Sappho's life is not the story of The Odyssey and for the life of me I don't understand why author Erica Jong decided to give her readers a combination of Greek heroine and Clash of the Titans.
Once I was able to get past the fantasy elements, I realized that I was not being pulled into the story on its own merits. There wasn't enough emotional dimension -- for all her travels, we're shown pretty landscapes and scary oceans but we don't see enough of a real character. I read Sappho's poems in college and the talented mind behind those words is NOT present in this book.
I'm not saying the book is without its good points. Jong has certainly done a lot of research and her enthusiasm is many times contagious. But I found the whole bit a little odd... like picking up a book about Cleopatra and seeing her encounter dragons, unicorns, and the goddess Isis. If Jong had written about Ariadne, this all might have worked. The blend of fantasy just didn't add up to a palatable meal for me.
Average customer rating:
- Fear of Fifty gave me plenty to reflect on
- i love this book at age 28
- Fear of Fifty
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Fear of Fifty
Erica Jong
Manufacturer: Tarcher
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ASIN: 1585425249
Release Date: 2006-09-07 |
Book Description
Seducing the Demon has introduced Erica Jong to readers who hadn't been born when Fear of Flying was published in 1973. Now one of her finest works of nonfiction -and a New York Times bestseller-is back in print with a new afterword.
In Fear of Fifty, a New York Times bestseller when first published in 1994, Erica Jong looks to the second half of her life and "goes right to the jugular of the women who lived wildly and vicariously through Fear of Flying" (Publishers Weekly), delivering highly entertaining stories and provocative insights on sex, marriage, aging, feminism, and motherhood. "What Jong calls a midlife memoir is a slice of autobiography that ranks in honesty, self-perception and wisdom with [works by] Simone de Beauvoir and Mary McCarthy," wrote the Sunday Times (U.K.). "Although Jong's memoir of a Jewish American princess is wittier than either."
Customer Reviews:
Fear of Fifty gave me plenty to reflect on.......2004-09-02
My measure of a good book is how long it makes you think after reading it, and this book has had me thinking for days. I think Erica has been very raw and honest in detailing her feelings about her life and experiences. Refreshing to read about someone who has been married more times than me. Also contains the best last line I have ever read
i love this book at age 28.......2002-06-01
i love to read people writing their own story.and this one can be the best of them.erica share what's deep in her heart,and doesn't afraid to face her wrong and say sorry.this book helps women more for there are something only women meet in their life time and somthing only women understand.
Fear of Fifty.......2000-06-01
Erica Jong is funny, witty, and unusual. After reading the book, I listened to her tapes. I enjoy giving them as gifts to my friends who turn 50. I even gave it to my 30 year old stepdaughter and she loved it, too....Erica Jong helped me look forward to "Turning 50"---well almost!
Average customer rating:
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Serenissima: A Novel of Venice
Erica Jong
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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- In the Wings
- Women Reading Shakespeare 1660-1900: An Anthology of Criticism
- The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare in Production)
- The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare in Production)
- Macbeth (Shakespeare in Production)
ASIN: 0395429226 |
Customer Reviews:
classic Jong.......2002-12-20
This kinda-trashy, kinda-intellectual novel is classic Jong. The protagonist, a Shakespearean actress, certainly isn't facing a shortage of [physical] encounters. In fact, she has a romp with the Bard himself. The books is a little bit difficult to follow, as it bounces back & forth between Shakespearan times & modern times. It is spiced up with a word or two of Italian here & there, references to contemporary art, andnd it is rich with Shakespearean history & references to Shakespeare's works. If you like a little Shakespeare in your steamy romance reads, this book is for you.
Average customer rating:
- Disappointing
- Jong Makes Me Smile Again
- Obsession and 'Blues' Go Together, or Do They?
- "Fear Of Flying", is a tough act to follow.
- One hell of a good book
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Any Woman's Blues: A Novel of Obsession
Erica Jong
Manufacturer: Tarcher
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- Parachutes & Kisses
- How to Save Your Own Life
- Fear of Flying
- Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life
- The Devil at Large: Erica Jong on Henry Miller
ASIN: 1585425494
Release Date: 2006-12-28 |
Book Description
Any Woman's Blues, first published in 1990, is a tale of addiction and narcissism-the twin obsessions of ourage. World-famous folk singer Leila Sand emerged from the sixties and seventies with addictions to drugs and booze. Leila's latest addiction is to a younger man who leaves her sexually ecstatic but emotionally bereft. The orgasmic frenzies trump the betrayals, so she keeps coming back for more. <br/><br/> Eventually, Leila frees herself by learning the rules of love, the Twelve Steps, and the Key to Serenity in an odyssey that takes her from AA meetings to dens of sin, parties with "names" worth dropping, and erotic gondola rides.
Customer Reviews:
Disappointing.......2006-06-08
There is some intelligence and a few flashes of insight here but on the whole, Jong has created a thin world that revolves around implausible sex. There is something excessive and fantasy-driven and predictable about the way the main character portrays her relationship with the younger man, as well as her portrayal of subsequent liaisons towards the end of the book. I had heard so much about FEAR OF FLYING but thought I would read the less-famous work first. Now, I am less inclined to read FEAR OF FLYING. This should have been an in-depth look at one woman's obsession, an intelligent treatment of lust and sex, but it was simply vacuous. It reminded me of Joan Collins with a bit of an effort at `social observation.'
Jong Makes Me Smile Again.......2005-07-26
I've read this book several times over the last ten years. I adore her decriptions of her lust of men, sex, & love. Her prose is shockingly graphic, yet soft. After first reading this years back, I knew I'd never look at a man on a bike (motorcycle) the same way again. <grin>
I won't give a summary of the book- amazon does that already. But pick it up @ your local bookstore & start with the first page. My guess is that you'll eagerly buy it & find it hard to put down.
It's great reading such liberating literature. Such fun to delve into her naughtiness.
Try this timeless erotic tale.
Obsession and 'Blues' Go Together, or Do They?.......2004-11-17
In ANY WOMAN'S BLUES, you can learn (if you pay attention) the 'Rules of Love,' the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, and the 'Key to Serenity,' typical of the high-life of the nineties. I'm glad mine wasn't played out on that level.
Willie Dixon wrote, "the blues ain't nothing but the facts of life." She quotes a lot of old 'blues' lyrics from the twenties and even 'Down in the Dumps' from 1958. We all have moods intermittently. She felt that every character in every book is a part of that mysterious mosaic we call our 'self.' For the most part, I believe this, too, but usually associate it with first novels.
In 1973, Erica Jong wrote her debut novel, FEAR OF FLYING, in which she taught us how to fly -- her way. Seventeen years later, here she comes again but this time, she shows us how to land.
In between, she had five poetry books and five other novels published. In them, she dared to explore realms which other writers were afraid to explore. She's had a following of devoted readers who appreciate her wit, insights, and ability to tackle important and difficult subjects such as divorce, adultery, and miracles. Serenissina (about Venice) is one of her best novels, in my opinion. Some of the poetry, I found a little hard to understand, as in WITCHES.
To say she is a complicated writer, praised by John Updike, Margaret Atwood, Henry Miller, and other notables is putting it mildly. If you've read Updike, consider a female verison on similar themes. Later, she wrote about Henry Miller in THE DEVIL AT LARGE, and INVENTING MEMORY about Mothers and Daughters.
In this one, she goes from highs to lows emotionally and almost loses her grip on sanity and self-destruct on alcohol and co- dependency. I was codependent once but not in the way her artist/mother is. Not on a younger lover, but on my youngest son who was my 'whole life,' You can never put that burden on another person; then when they are no longer there, you feel you can't survive alone. But you can!
The young stud Donezal leaves her feeling worthless, betrayed and empty. That's the folly of loving a younger man. This woman has lived the high life (as opposed to my meager existence in a small Southern town) from glittering parties in East Village nightclubs with celebrities to unusual and the bizarre. Guess that's what drinking people do when drugs are involved.
This book is about obsession, as in my previous review by the Canadian writer. She, too, daubled in poetry. I've never had an obsession per se, though I have had 'attachments.' My husband had a different kind of obsession. As far as I know, any obsession is a form of illness.
She learns, however, that the secret of happiness was not to be found in the illusion of 'the perfect man' but rather in finding strength within one's self. Its theme surrounding the artist's search for a way out of addictive love and toward self-love is characteristic of this writer, I've found.
Most writers use this means of creative expression to resolve conflicts at the particular time through which daily life takes him or her. Since this volume of smush (my word), she's written a mid-life "memoir" and other involved stories.
This tale has no end. Like Chinese boxes within boxes, like Russian dolls within dolls, we go on revealing our hearts in the hope they may never stop beating. If you want a mantra, repeat "thank you" 104 times (which she does) to feel more grateful, more and more alive. Who else would have thought of doing that? It's certainly original.
"Fear Of Flying", is a tough act to follow........2004-05-10
I read very little fiction. For excitement, who could create fiction that would compare to the lives of van Gogh, Charlie Parker, Sigmund Freud, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Scott of the Antarctic, and thousands of other larger than life characters who left their mark on this world.
Once in a while I do read a popular novel like "Valley of the Dolls", and find it to be quite enjoyable...but then again that book like many fictional novels are based on real people.
Erica Jong seems to regard herself as partly a serious artist, and partly a ditsy sex crazed druggie, caught up in the weird New York hip scene of parties, the latest five minute fads,
and a search for a meaningful existence. I think she's more a serious artist than she reveals. To turn out so many books requires lots of hours spent working dilligenly at her desk, and not partying as much as her characters.
She makes no bones about her delight in men, and their bodies. She initially started her writing career with poetry, and once took a writing class with Robert Lowell. Anne Sexton was a fellow student. She was a published poet before "Fear Of Flying".
I liked "Fear of Flying" and "How to Save Your Own Life", and I must say I'm enjoying "Any Women's Blues". This is not great writing, but there's something here that keeps my eye on the page, and I do want to see what happens next.
And it is a good record for the future, of how a certain class of people lived their lives in New York City at the end of the twentieth century. There isn't a trace of phoniness in it, although many of the people she writes about are.
The thing that is surprising, is that the great sex, and being desired by many men is seemingly so unfullfilling to Lelia/Erica. The men all have character flaws that drive her nuts. I think Erica is on her third or fourth husband, and I guess she's going to do it till she gets it right. Meanwhile, her search for the ideal mate in the hip NY/international jet set is worth my time, and yours....as long as your not expecting another "Anna Karenina", "Brothers Karamazov" "Pride and Predjudice".......or even another "Fear of Flying".
One hell of a good book.......1999-08-01
Any Woman's Blues packs a punch like no other. Erica Jong has always had the talent for relentless honesty and in this book she bravely goes where most writers fear to tread. She doesn't dwell on psychotic mind-sets that the average person can only imagine; she goes places where we all go every day of our lives. Her heroine is steeped with self-doubt, fear, loneliness. In short, she is just like the rest of us. That is why her triumps and setbacks reach us so deeply. That is what Erica Jong's gift is all about.
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- Pure Orgone
- Pure Orgone
- The Sexual Revolution: Yet Another Utopian Heresy.
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Sexual Revolution
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ASIN: 1560255250 |
Book Description
What does "sexual revolution" mean? When, how, and why did it begin? What, if anything, did it change? And what hope do we have that its ideals of equality and pleasure can be realized?
From Susan Sontag's "Pornographic Imagination" to Al Goldstein's notorious review of Deep Throat, Sexual Revolution explores the cultural, economic, political, and moral consequences of new ways of sexual thinking and behaving—reclaiming the female orgasm and challenging the double standard; celebrating open marriage and homosexuality; and defying taboo and censorship. With Anne Koedt's classic "The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm" and Norman Mailer's "The Homosexual Villain;" Helen Gurley Brown to Lenny Bruce—to name a few—this book features the voices of those who registered and provoked popular consciousness and transformed how we think about sex. Today, Dr. Phil talks about oral sex among grade-schoolers and pornstar Jenna Jameson gets a six-figure advance for her memoirs. Something has changed, but Sexual Revolution reminds us that our sexuality remains a bitterly contested battleground.
This collection includes selections by Erica Jong, Lawrence Lipton, Masters and Johnson, Betty Dodson, Audre Lorde, Gay Talese, Gayle Rubin, Timothy Leary, Henry Miller, Huey Newton, Sigmund Freud, Simone de Beauvoir, and many others.
Customer Reviews:
Pure Orgone.......2004-03-23
This remarkable book is a collection of essays from some of the most valuable and visionary intellects of the twentieth-century. They're all talking about sex which is a pretty universally interesting subject. Even right-wing Chritians do it from time to time in order to have children. But this book goes way beyond procreation, locating sex in a social context and showing how it became radicalized, politicized, and changed society as a result. The many great writers from Simone de Beauvoir, to Carl Jung, to Susan Sontag, share their thoughts, and the resulting collection catalogues the leaps into liberation that were the hallmarks of the time; from women reclaiming pornography, to gays in revolt against monogamy, to the average Joe feeling a tad more...experimental. Jeffrey Escoffier has done a terrific job in presenting this work with passioanate enthusiasm and editting it with impecable taste. It's enough to send a nun over the convent wall.
Pure Orgone.......2004-03-23
This book is truly wonderful. It is an excellent collection of incisive essays from some of the twentieth centuries most valuable and visionary intellects. And they're all thinking about sex which, let's face it, is a pretty universally interesting subject. Even right-wing Christians do it occasionally to make children. The writings merrily leap beyond procreation, locate sex in the political-social and intellectual arena, and focus on the hot revolutionary decade from the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies. Amidst the steam they document the tremendous strides of liberation taking place -- women becoming orgasmic, gays becoming radicalized, and the average joe experiencing a greater sense of experimentation. It all an exhillarating read. Jeffrey Escoffier's presentation is articulate and passionate and his choice of material is impeccable. It's enough to make a nun leap over a convent wall.
The Sexual Revolution: Yet Another Utopian Heresy........2004-03-15
Why give this book five stars? It is a catalogue of the nihilistic heresy of the twentieth century--a democratic utopia fueled by an orgy of sexual expression and "free love." What is the sexual revolution actually revolting against? Traditional Christian views on morality and along with it, societal and familiar structure. The worst part of this is many people in Third World, non-Christian states view this type of license as representative of America and the West in general, when in fact this is nothing further from the truth. An overemphasis on sexuality took off with Freud and his questionable theories in the late 1800s. The sexual revolution started swinging in the fifties and early sixties as more or less male fashionable dalliance idealized in _Playboy_ magazine. It later became embroiled with accompanying liberalizing factors in Western society during the sixties such as the civil rights movement and spilled over into feminism and the campaign for "gay" rights. This whole thing is anti-Christian, anti-patriarchal, anti-family and anti-Western to the core. It is constantly bombarding the world's populaces who are (un?)fortunate enough to be in some way to experience the television set, rock n' roll CD or Hollywood blockbuster movie. The sexual revolution is at the end of the day a fraud. No sooner than women began to spill into the workplace there was plenty of money to be made by lawyers specializing in sexual harassment lawsuits. Some progress humanity has made. The sexual revolution has its antecedents in history. A few ancient Gnostic sects, because they believed the material world inherently evil, indulged in the pleasures of the flesh because it supposedly did not affect the state of one's spiritual being, a few well documented here. When Christ is ignored, man will instead look for earthly means to bring about the Kingdom of God and eternal bliss on merely human terms. Christ's Kingdom is "not of this world" and will not be experienced in this life, but only in the Age to Come. In the case of the sexual revolution a millennial utopia is attained though the grossest desires of the flesh. Has the sexual revolution failed? Well, people are just as disgruntled as they ever were. At least Marx's economic utopia of the proletariat looked serious and businesslike. It's best to stick to traditional, moderate sexual values, which are especially important to maintain in the face of the world's dissolution and media propaganda. If you want the obscene details then look no further than _Sexual Revolution_. Everybody with some opinion and agenda are mentioned somewhere in here, from Freud, Wilhelm Reich, Norman Mailer to _Time_ Magazine, Larry Flint, Susan Sontag, etc.
Authors:
- Jonson, Ben
- Jordan, Judy
- Jordan, June
- Jordan, Robert
- Josephus
- Joyce, James
- Ernst Jünger
- Jünger, Ernst
- Justice, Donald
- Juvenal
Authors
Authors