Conversations With Erica Jong

by Jong, Erica; Templin, Charlotte

• ISBN13: 9781578065097
• ISBN10: 1578065097
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-12-01
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Mississippi

Summary

InConversations with Erica Jongone of the most popular and controversial of contemporary writers has her say. She was already an established poet when she publishedFear of Flying(1973), but the novel's sensational reception came to overshadow all her work.In interviews from 1973 to 2001, Jong relates the extra-ordinary experience she gained as a pioneer of sexual writing from a female point of view. With equal attention to the art of fiction and poetry, she yields her views on the literary scene and on the place of poetry in American society.Among the highlights of the book is Jong's account of the publication ofFear of Flyingand its remarkable, best-seller rise. Cast into the role of spokesperson for feminism in the seventies, she has continued to represent her generation of women. In several conversations, she talks about the tensions within feminism over the decades.Jong's fame has been deeply branded by the notoriety associated with sex. She speaks for all women writers who have addressed sexual topics and who have suffered retaliation. She tells the story of the struggle to keep writing honestly when the public's perception of one's work has made one a target. She describes the difficulty of escaping categories created by the media and the critical community and the frustration of living in the shadow of one notorious best-seller.In Jong's writing, humor is a constant, and one of the pleasures of reading these conversations is her abundant wit.Conversations with Erica Jongreveals the writer to be funny, articulate, and passionately committed to her art.Charlotte Templin is the author ofFeminism and the Politics of Literary Reputation: The Example of Erica Jong. Her work has appeared inAmerican Studies,The Missouri Review, andCentennial Review.

Table of Contents

Introduction	ix
Chronology	xix
Craft Interview with Erica Jong	3	(22)
Mary Jane Fortunato
An Interview with Erica Jong	25	(11)
Elaine Showalter
Carol Smith
Playboy Interview	36	(35)
Gretchen McNeese
Erica Jong	71	(3)
Barbara A. Bannon
Erica Jong	74	(8)
Rozsika Parker
Eleanor Stephens
Erica Jong: Writing about Sex Is Harder for a Woman	82	(4)
Robert Louit
Erica Jong	86	(24)
Diana Cooper-Clark
Erica Jong	110	(11)
Ralph Gardner
Erica: Being the True History of the Adventures of Isadora Wing, Fanny Hackabout-Jones, and Erica Jong	121	(13)
John Kern
Erica Jong's Fear of Forfeiting Feminism's Gains	134	(4)
Elaine Woo
Erica Jong	138	(9)
Wendy Martin
Contemporary Authors Interview	147	(8)
Jean W. Ross
Erica Jong	155	(3)
Steve Kemper
Interview with Erica Jong	158	(13)
Charlotte Templin
That Mispronounced Poet: An Interview with Erica Jong	171	(13)
Charlotte Templin
Better the Devil You Know: Talking about de Sade, Dworkin, and Miller with Erica Jong	184	(6)
Susie Bright
Flying without Fear: Erica Jong's Feminist Fire Is Still Crackling	190	(3)
Viveka Vogel
Interview with Erica Jong	193	(10)
Charlotte Templin
Index	203