Erica Jong
Celebrated Poet, Novelist


Erica Jong is a celebrated poet & author with over 23 published books. Her most popular novel, Fear of Flying, celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2013. Never out of print, it has sold over 27 million copies in 42 languages and gained her the admiration of writers like John Updike and Henry Miller. The book blew conventional thinking about women, marriage, and sexuality out of the water and made her a pillar of the sexual revolution and a hero to millions. Comfortable and eloquent in various genres, she has switched between fiction, non-fiction, and poetry almost effortlessly.

 

Erica’s novel, Fear of Dying, was published on September 8th, 2015 with St. Martin’s Press and many other publishers all over the world. Her awards include the Fernanda Pivano Award for Literature in Italy (named for the critic who introduced Ernest Hemingway, Allen Ginsberg, and Erica Jong to the Italian public); the Sigmund Freud Award in Italy; the Deauville Literary Award in France; the United Nations Award for Excellence in Literature; Poetry Magazine’s Bess Hokin Prize (also won by Sylvia Plath and W.S. Merwin). She lives in New York and Connecticut with her husband and two poodles.

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HARDCOVER
St. Martin’s Press

Four decades ago, Erica Jong revolutionized the way we look at love, marriage, and sex. Her world-wide bestseller, Fear of Flying opened the doors for writers from Jennifer Weiner to Lena Dunham. Now she does it again by giving us powerful, new perspective on the next phase of women's lives.

HARDCOVER
Henry Holt and Co.

The 40th anniversary reissue of the #1 New York Times bestselling novel Fear of Flying, with a new introduction by New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner

How to Write the Story of Your Life For many years, Erica (who has taught at CCNY, Ben Gurion University in Israel, University of Maryland, Barnard College, Breadloaf Writer’s Conference, etc…) has been doing mini-writing workshops at Rancho La Puerta based on this topic. Erica shows writers how to outline the most exciting events in their lives. She teaches them how to introduce their story with an intriguing anecdote and where to go from there.

Writing Issues Erica is very comfortable speaking about the fear many writers have about: writer's block, writing about family, writing about sex, and submitting manuscripts to publishers and contests. Erica speaks about how writers need to get paid for the work they do and how tricky it is in today's world of free content. She describes the vast changes in the publishing industry since she began to publish in 1971. Erica discusses self-publishing, publishing by big companies and small companies, and the various delights and problems. She also discusses finding the discipline to finish the book.

Women, Feminism and the Future What have women achieved and what remains to be done? How far has feminism succeeded? Erica talks about women in the world. Why is our representation in government so small? Why are most Fortune 500 companies still run by men? Why is reproductive choice so debatable? Why is the word feminism still under attack in some quarters?

Fortune, Fate, and Timing How do your ancestors impact your life? How do you rise above the limitations of prejudice, racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny… What do you fear most and how can you overcome that fear? An inspirational talk about conquering fear and surpassing limitations. This is a talk that is international in scope. Erica has given it at La Milanesiana in Milan at ThinkIndia! in Goa and at many other conferences around the world.

The Jewish Woman in America Erica speaks about the role of the Jewish Woman in America throughout our history. The Jewish Woman has had a vast influence on education, philanthropy, the labor union movement, progressive politics, and expanding democracy. From Emma Lazarus to Emma Goldman, from Golda Meir to Joan Rivers - Jewish women have changed our democratic dialogue, our views of racism, civil rights, immigration, and have been a huge force for progressive change. They have also changed our concepts of humor, what it means to be a lady, and what it means to be a leader.


Praise for Fear of Dying:

“How Erica is able to deal with all these sensitive issues and still make the book funny is amazing. I loved reading it.”
—Woody Allen

“Erica Jong has done it again! Fear of Dying is a big, bawdy, beautifully-written romp through online hookups, female friendships, children grappling with adulthood and parents negotiating with death. Fear of Dying is big, warm-hearted, generous book that will satisfy Jong's longtime fans and delight her new readers.”
—Jennifer Weiner

“Moving and deeply poetic, Fear of Dying is a compelling novel that truly understands the process of aging. With astonishing images on every page, Erica Jong gives us a veiled spiritual autobiography with an unstoppable quality, a narrative momentum that held me from first to last as it seamlessly unfolds from Jong's previous work, yet with sharp new edge, giving us a wise book, a book to savor.”
—Jay Parini, author of The Last Station and Why Poetry Matters

“Erica Jong has written a whip-smart, insightful, hilarious and ridiculously relatable new novel, FFear of Dying. In her latest novel, Jong revisits and renovates her old haunts. Destined to be called an instant classic, I could not put this stunning book down. In 1973, Fear of Flying was the book we needed; now the book we need is Fear of Dying.”
—Julie Klam, bestselling author of Friendkeeping and You Had Me at Woof

“Erica Jong fans, rejoice! Her new novel, the cleverly and aptly titled Fear of Dying, is a truth-teller's dream. In it, Jong and her alter egos face life's most difficult challenges, head on and all at once. As the great poet William Butler Yeats wrote, "the only two things worth writing about are sex and death," and in Fear of Dying, Jong takes on both. Along the way, she also tells the story of a marriage that grows happier despite all. This wise book, written in prose gorgeous enough to make one swoon, will delight and enrich the lives of everyone who reads it.”
—Rosemary Daniell, award-winning author of Secrets of the Zona Rosa: How Writing (and Sisterhood) Can Change Women’s Lives