Fear of Flying Audiobook By Erica Jong cover art

Fear of Flying

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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 twelve million copies. Now, after thirty years, the revolutionary novel known as Fear of Flying still stands as a timeless tale of self-discovery, liberation, and womanhood.

 Psychological Women's Fiction Literary Fiction Genre Fiction Contemporary

Featured Article: Far Out—The Best Audiobooks of and About the 1970s


Whether you were alive in the 1970s or born decades after, here are some of the best books about the 1970s and some of the most popular best sellers published during the 1970s to give you a better look at this fab, fascinating, and influential era. Whether you're nostalgic or curious about the decade that brought us Watergate and women's lib, Luke Skywalker and the Bee Gees, check out this list of out of sight audiobooks.

Featured Article Far Out The Best Audiobooks of and About the 1970s
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both entertaining and educational! I feel the readers performance makes this audible version even better than the printed copy! the reader helped me intuit things that I would have otherwise struggled to understand.

Highly Recommend

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This book is really well written. I love the prose and descriptions of the characters. The humor is also really great throughout. However, I didn’t completely fall in love this book. I really had trouble connecting with the protagonist, Isadora. She just came off as this really privileged woman who at times was not relatable. The author’s descriptions of emotions and the neuroses of the character were poignant, but the character at her core just seemed spoiled and entitled. It honestly felt like a story for upper class women not for all women, and maybe that was the intention? The whole narrative of this woman galavanting around Europe complaining about her kept life was nauseating. Maybe if character was a little less narcissistic and little more “woke”, she would be more dynamic. *spoiler alert, her redemption is getting over codependency, but I think if she examined her own privilege it would truly been a more well rounded feminist novel. Overall, I did enjoy this book and it’s worth the read for the brilliant writing style.

Really wanted to love this book!

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She just whines and complains about her life. I also had a hard time with the back and forth in her story. The past, the way past, and the present. I was confused at times as to where in the story I was.

I could not finish this book.

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What did you love best about Fear of Flying?

Jong's unflinching narrator finds her voice and her core through the course of this book. Many contemporary culture makers such as Lena Dunham owe a debt to this book.

What other book might you compare Fear of Flying to and why?

Books? Movies. I would compare all of Woody Allen's movies and later Lena Dunham's Tiny Furniture and Girls to Fear of Flying.

Have you listened to any of Hope Davis’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

She carries the right outrage and coolness the book's narrator contains.

If you could rename Fear of Flying, what would you call it?

Handbook for Young Women: How to Avoid Distraction Through a Series of Questions

Any additional comments?

I can't wait for my daughter to be old enough to read this. I hope it will provide her with iconography that she can identify necessary and sometimes painful transitions by. It is not theory, this conversational book, it is literature.

If you make it to the end, listen to the interview with Erica Jong. It reveals her lifelong support of women's voices.

Why Didn't I Read This When I Was 16?

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narrator had a somewhat nasal voice and I did not really enjoy the story. I know this book was considered revolutionary in it's time but to me, it was not, and I did not like the neurotic protagonist.

didn't like the story

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