Fear of Flying

By: Erica Jong

Narrated by: Hope Davis

Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Originally published in 1973, the groundbreaking, uninhibited story of Isadora Wing and her desire to fly free caused a national sensation. In The New York Times, Henry Miller compared it to his own classic, Tropic of Cancer and predicted that "this book will make literary history..." It has sold more than 12-million copies. Now, after 30 years, the revolutionary novel known as Fear of Flying still stands as a timeless tale of self-discovery, liberation, and womanhood.

©1973, 2001 Erica Mann Jong (P)2006 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Extraordinary....At once wildly funny and very wise." (Los Angeles Times)
"An amazing tour de force." (Cosmopolitan)

Sound quality is a problem

Hope Davis is a terrific narrator but where was the engineer? If you’re sensitive to sound quality, you might find this hard to listen to.

Glad I didn't give up on it...

I very nearly gave up on this one. I'm a woman in my 30's. I have always considered myself a modern, liberated woman. I had a memory of this book on my (feminist) mother's bookshelf, and of being titillated by the racey cover. I had heard that it was a seminal feminist book. So, I finally decided I should fill in this gap in my literary repertoir and "read" it for myself.

However, as I listened I found I really despised the main character. I was completely unable to relate to her. My generation is very different from hers. I am happy in my marriage, my interpersonal relationships, and my self-image. I've never felt oppressed or smothered by anyone. This woman just seemed disgustingly whiney, neurotic, and childish.

I am stubborn, though. At first I kept myself going by telling myself how good it was to see how far we'd really come since then. I thought it was heading for all kinds of extreme endorsements-- live in communes, forsake all commitments, want nothing more from life than perpetual free sex and empty "freedom". I kept thinking, thank goodness the pendulum has swung back from that extreme into some sanity!

In the end though it didn't go where I feared it would. It more than redeemed itself, and I'm glad I stuck with it. It's about a woman finding her own identity, and while the details of path she took to get there ARE rather dated, the journey itself is as pertinent today as it ever was. It IS a wonderful insight into the dilemmas of being a woman, of the differences and conflicts between the sexes, and of what it means to really grow up and be a whole person.

Surprised and impressed

If you could sum up Fear of Flying in three words, what would they be?

Amazing. Like iris Murdoch but happier.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Narrarator was good but a tad too bubbly for me. I like hope Davis but she had a desperation in her voice which frustrated me. But I can't imagine another reader now

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I couldn't stop listening to it - the authors insight
And experience were so real yet outrageous at times.

Any additional comments?

Wish I had read this one - think I'll have to re-read it now!

Sexual Revolution of the 60's & 70's

Is there anything you would change about this book?

No. In the 70's, this was a timely book.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

When I read the book the first time, I was a twenty-something and was part of the women's liberation movement. For a woman to write about how women feel about sex and marriage was revolutionary. Today, this is not so shocking.

Which character – as performed by Hope Davis – was your favorite?

Isadora. In trying to find herself, and thinking she knew what she wanted, she discovered she didn't. It would be fun to have a sequel and---just read that Erica Jong is actually playing around with the the concept of a book about grown-up Isadora. I'll be eager to see who she is as an adult. Hope Jong publishes a book.

Could you see Fear of Flying being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Maybe. It's written in journal like form with explicit content. It was the "Fifty Shades" book of the seventies. The actual journey of discovery was interesting, but I thought the plot was a little thin. They might have to take some literary license and beef it up.

a feminist powerhouse of a novel

Erica Jong basted into the stratosphere in the mid 1970s. I was in Junior High School when this book was released, and I remember well hearing her name everywhere. I vaguely knew that the book was about sex and that she was a "bra-burner feminist." I never read it. I was too young, and when I grew up it never entered my mind. But this month it is the BOTM in my Reading 1001 group and so it was finally time.

Fear of Flying is simple in its theme and story. Isadora White Wing is a writer, like Jong. She is in an unfulfilling marriage. Her husband is a bit cold and unsupportive of her career. She finds their sex life dull and eventually begins a vivid fantasy life in which she imagines sex with other men. The book is essentially about those fantasies and what they mean to Isadora. And it is also about what sexual fantasies mean to all women. I didn't particularly love the book. I will be honest here: the directness and bluntness of the sexual content isn't something I liked. It made me uncomfortable. However, I recognize that this is a personal inhibition and in no way detracts from the importance of this work. And although I didn't love it because it made me uncomfortable, I still loved it for the way it made me think.

Nobody before Jong (and very few since) have ever written about sexuality from the female perspective with so much forthrightness and depth. I remember that when I read John Updikes' Rabbit series a year or so ago that I felt like I was punched in the gut and I liked it. The testosterone was on overload. And yet I loved it. This book is like that one. There is nowhere to hide. Jong uses language that is affronting and a bit outrageous. She discusses subjects that are self-indulgent, personal, and even narcissistic.

But here is the thing to know: It doesn't matter if you are uncomfortable. It doesn't matter if you like the book. It doesn't matter if you could write it just as well. The only thing that matters is that she did write it, and it was published. This book broke the barrier.

This is one of those rare books in which women are truly equal to men. It acknowledges that sex and pleasure and a fantasy life are things that women want just as much as men do. It acknowledges that sex can be whatever the woman wants it to be.

The reader may not always agree with Jong, but if a woman reads this book and finds nothing to which she can relate... well, I would be shocked and surprised, because this book discusses the value of work to women. It discusses the need for respect and support. It discusses personal fulfillment, passion, comfort, stability, marriage, hope, anger... And, of course, sex.

Jong uses the two men to show the two competing desires. Her husband Bennett represents home, comfort, ease, peace and security. He is steadfast. Her fantasy man, Adrian Goodlove, represents desire, zeal, intensity, energy and excitement. And, honestly, she wants both. So do I. I think most people want both, but it is never written about and acknowledged that women have the desires for what Adrian represent. Thousands of books for women discuss our need for the Bennetts of the world. But it is the rare few that show our need for the Adrians of the world.

So, back to the 1970s. It is important to remember that ERA was never ratified. And I remember that the women in my life didn't support it. The women who wanted the ERA were viewed as strident rather than progressive. They were seen as "easy" rather than free -- because a woman who wanted sex was a bad thing. The ERA means that the law cannot disadvantage women... that is all. If you lived through the era of the fight for the ERA you will remember the craziness of some of the arguments. If you are too young to remember, please go to youtube and watch the video of John Oliver discussing the ERA. It is funny, smart and full of great history.

Good for women of any age!

I really enjoyed this book! I found her fantasizing insightful and I believe Isadora went on to live an authentic female life that included marriage and children. At all ages, there is a question of who you are and what you want and like. Be brave!

Freedom, sweet freedom

I had wanted to read Fear of Flying for years - just knowing it was a woman's story of liberation. It was mostly what I imagined it might be. The narration was good, solid. The story was good and loaded the ending nicely. I appreciate the historical significance of this book in it's time and enjoyed the brief interview with the author at the end. I am a big fan of Henry Miller and must say, though it is lovely to have this liberation story from a woman, Erica Jong does not reach the soaring heights (nor for that matter depths) that Miller does in his inspired works of liberation.

STUCK ON THE COUCH

What disappointed you about Fear of Flying?

The main character never stopped self analysis. At some point the reader wants development!!

What do you think your next listen will be?

A book loaded with plot.and perhaps some humor.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The voice tried to clearly present her thoughts, butb I just quit caring.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Boths adness ans disappointment. I remember this book as pivotal the woman's lib movement. Why?

Any additional comments?

Absolutely the most depressing book I've ever listened to.

Oh puleeeeze!

I purchased this book more out of curiosity than a desire to partake of good literature. In that vein I suppose I deserve what I got. I listened all the way to the end just to be sure I didn’t sell this loudly ballyhooed best seller short.

Just because a book is popular, doesn’t make it praise-worthy (except maybe to the agent and accountant of the author). Maybe I am missing something, because I really didn’t find much to cheer about in this book.

Could its popularity be explained because of the gratuitous use of the “f” and “c” words? Maybe in 1973 these words spewed from the lips of a woman was considered liberating? I am no prude and am not offended by this language insomuch as I was bored by it. Frankly, I found the main character, Isadora Wing, to be a shallow, self-centered, disillusioned and dissolute individual. I have a strong suspicion she was the fictional embodiment of the author, as is so often the case.

If you crave a story of a whiny young woman looking to “find herself” by sexing her way across Europe, you will enjoy this book. If you are looking for a great story, well written, you will be sorely disappointed.

Boring

The book was very well written. The narrator did an excellent job. At no point did her portrayals feel robotic or inauthentic. But the story itself is lackluster. It's nothing but the author complaining and whining for hundreds of pages. Nothing really happens. There are no interesting characters and there's nothing controversial about the sex. The narrator is an obvious feminist but her actions are in complete contrast. There's direction here. I could only make it to the halfway mark and I struggled to get that far.