Erica Jong (née Mann; born March 26, 1942) is an American novelist, satirist, and poet known particularly for her 1973 novel ''

Fear of Flying Fear of flying is the fear of being on an aircraft, such as an airplane or helicopter, while it is in flight. It is also referred to as flying anxiety, flying phobia, flight phobia, aviophobia, aerophobia, or pteromerhanophobia (although aero ...

''. The book became famously controversial for its attitudes towards female sexuality and figured prominently in the development of

second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades, ending with the feminist sex wars in the early 1980s and being replaced by third-wave feminism in the early 1990s. It occurred ...

. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' said in 2013 that it had sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, while by 2022, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reported that worldwide sales of the book had increased to over 37 million copies.

Early life and education

Erica Mann was born in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, on March 26, 1942. She is one of three daughters of Seymour Mann (died 2004), and Eda Mirsky (1911–2012). Her father was a businessman of Polish-Jewish ancestry who owned a gifts and home accessories company known for its mass production of porcelain dolls. Her mother was born in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

of a Russian-Jewish immigrant family, and was a painter and textile designer who also designed dolls for her husband's company. She has an elder sister, Suzanna, who married Lebanese businessman Arthur Daou, and a younger sister, Claudia, a social worker who married Gideon S. Oberweger (the chief executive officer of Seymour Mann Inc. until his death in 2006). Among her nephews is Peter Daou, a political strategist and former musician who in 1994 produced an album titled '' Zipless'', a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

based on Jong's novel ''Fear of Flying''. Mann attended the High School of Music & Art in

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan ...

in the 1950s, where she developed her passion for art and writing. As a student at

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

in Manhattan, Jong edited the ''Barnard Literary Magazine'' and created poetry programs for WKCR,

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

's radio station. In 1963, she graduated from Barnard College, and in 1965, she graduated from

with an MA in

18th century The 18th century lasted from 1 January 1701 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCI) to 31 December 1800 (MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the Atlantic Revolutions. Revolutions began to ch ...

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

. During her time at Barnard, she married Michael Werthman in 1963, although they soon divorced. In 1966, she married Allan Jong, a

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

psychiatrist, whose surname she kept after their divorce.

Career

Jong is best known for her first novel, ''

'' (1973), which created a sensation with its frank treatment of a woman's sexual desires, through an account of Isadora Wing, a woman in her late twenties, searching for who she is and where she is going. Jong employed psychological and humorous descriptive elements, rich cultural and literary references, frank depictions of and ruminations on sex. The book addresses some of the conflicts that were arising for women in late 1960s and early 1970s America-of womanhood, femininity, sex, and relationships, versus the quest for freedom and purpose. The saga of the thwarted fulfillment of Isadora Wing continues in two further novels, ''How to Save Your Own Life'' (1977) and ''Parachutes and Kisses'' (1984).

Personal life

After her first two marriages ended in divorce, Jong married novelist and educator Jonathan Fast in 1977, son of novelist Howard Fast. Their marriage was described in ''How to Save Your Own Life'' and ''Parachutes and Kisses''. She and Jonathan Fast have a daughter, Molly Jong-Fast. Jong's third marriage also ended in divorce. Jong and Kenneth David Burrows, a New York litigator, were married until his death on December 14, 2023. Molly Jong-Fast wrote a memoir about her relationship with her mother, entitled ''How to Lose Your Mother.'' It was published in 2025. Jong lived on an army base in Heidelberg, West Germany for three years (1966–69) with her second husband. She was a frequent visitor to Venice, Italy, and wrote about the city in her novel ''Shylock's Daughter''. She lived in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan until 2023, and has also owned a house in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. In 2007, her literary archive was acquired by

in Manhattan. Jong is mentioned in " Highlands", the closing song of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

's Grammy Award-winning album '' Time Out of Mind'' (1997), as a "women author" whose books the narrator reads. She is satirized on the MC Paul Barman track "N.O.W.", in which the rapper fantasizes about a young leftist carrying a fictitious Jong book titled ''America's Wrong''. In 2008, Jong wrote in support of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

, saying that "It certainly promotes stability and family... it's certainly good for kids." In the early 2020s, Jong was diagnosed with dementia. , she lives in a nursing home in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Bibliography

Fiction

* ''

'' (1973) * ''How to Save Your Own Life'' (1977) * ''Fanny, Being the True History of the Adventures of Fanny Hackabout-Jones'' (1980) (a retelling of ''

Fanny Hill ''Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure'' – popularly known as ''Fanny Hill'' – is an erotic novel by the English novelist John Cleland first published in London in 1748 and 1749. Written while the author was in debtors' prison in London,Wagne ...

'') *''Megan's Book of Divorce: a kid's book for adults''; as told to Erica Jong; illustrated by Freya Tanz. New York: New American Library (1984) * ''Megan's Two Houses: a story of adjustment''; illustrated by Freya Tanz (1984; West Hollywood, CA: Dove Kids, 1996) * ''Parachutes & Kisses''. New York: New American Library (1984) (UK ed. as ''Parachutes and Kisses'': London: Granada, 1984.) * ''Shylock's Daughter'' (1987): formerly titled ''Serenissima'' * ''Any Woman's Blues'' (1990) * ''Inventing Memory'' (1997) * ''Sappho's Leap'' (2003) * ''Fear of Dying'' (September 8, 2015)

Non-fiction

* ''Witches''; illustrated by Joseph A. Smith. New York: Harry A. Abrams (1981) * ''The Devil at Large: Erica Jong on Henry Miller'' (1993) * ''Fear of Fifty: A Midlife Memoir'' (1994) * ''What Do Women Want? bread roses sex power'' (1998) * ''Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life'' (2006) * Essay, "My Dirty Secret". ''Bad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave'' (2007) * Essay, "It Was Eight Years Ago Today (But It Seems Like Eighty)" (2008)

Anthology

*''Sugar in My Bowl: Real Women Write About Real Sex'' Ed; Erica Jong (2011)

Poetry

* ''Fruits & Vegetables'' (1971, 1997) * ''Half-Lives'' (1973) * ''Loveroot'' (1975) * ''At the Edge of the Body'' (1979) * ''Ordinary Miracles'' (1983) * ''Becoming Light: New and Selected'' (1991) * ''Love Comes First'' (2009) * ''The World Began with Yes'' ( Red Hen Press, 2019)

Awards

* Poetry Magazine's Bess Hokin Prize (1971) * Sigmund Freud Award For Literature (1975) * United Nations Award For Excellence In Literature (1998) * Deauville Award For Literary Excellence In France * Fernanda Pivano Award For American Literature In Italy

Documentary

* 2023 ''Erica Jong - Breaking the Wall'' by Kaspar Kasics

References

External links

* – official site ** * *
What this woman wants
– in-depth interview & profile in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', April 3, 1999
Review of ''Seducing the Demon''
at Powells.com
Aging and Sex with Erica Jong – October 3, 2007

Interview on ''Fruits and Vegetables''
at the

WNYC WNYC is an audio service brand, under the control of New York Public Radio, a non-profit organization. Radio and other audio programming is primarily provided by a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations: WNYC (AM) and WNYC- ...

Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Jong, Erica 1942 births 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American poets 21st-century American women writers American feminist writers American people of English-Jewish descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American women novelists American women poets Barnard College alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni The High School of Music & Art alumni Jewish American poets Jewish American feminists Jewish women writers American LGBTQ rights activists Living people People from the Upper East Side Novelists from New York (state) Sex-positive feminists Writers from Manhattan