She’s well-read, cultured, and intelligent. On the other hand, Jong is honest in her writing, and truly pushed boundaries for women. It’s not that the descriptions of the sex offended me, but they just seemed unnecessary and in there to titillate and sell books. In this case, I felt she did well for most of the novel, but got a little too graphic towards the end, starting with an orgy scene. Trying to draw the line between expressing sexuality in an honest way and not going too far is tricky, particularly as every reader’s taste is going to vary. Jong has a reputation for explicitly sexuality and lives up to it here, so if you don’t like that sort of thing, this book is not for you. I don’t think it’s a problem that the book is highly autobiographical (and with a rather complete cast Britt Goldstein = sleazy Hollywood producer Julia Phillips, Jeannie Morton = suicidal poet Anne Sexton Kurt Hammer = Henry Miller, etc.), and in fact that’s a somewhat interesting aspect of it, but it slips too often into reading like a journal without enough indirection or polish. I find Jong compelling and I enjoyed this book to the end, but she does get a little repetitive and comes across as whining at times. After making the rounds to her friends who dispense advice and in a couple of cases sex (and offers for a future together), she flies out to Hollywood to see about a possible film deal. Dealing with this, as well as her new-found fame for her first novel, creates a crisis in her life. Not surprisingly, their marriage still has issues, and when Bennett/Allan reveals his own indiscretions from the past, Isadora/Erica takes it very hard, even though she’s kept on having her own flings on the side. The story picks up from when Bennett/Allan had forgiven her for her adultery and taken her back. Isadora is Jewish, grew up in New York, and spent three years in Heidelberg with Bennett Erica, well, you get the idea. Isadora is married to Asian-American psychiatrist Bennett Wing Erica was married to Asian-American psychiatrist Allan Jong.

Erica Jong’s sequel to the bestseller ‘Fear of Flying’ tells the next part of her life story via the character Isadora Wing.

Novel about isadora wing