From Booklist
Rarely is sex discussed so often and so explicitly in author interviews as it is here in this piquant collection of conversations with the bright, audacious, and pioneering Jong, poet, novelist, and critic who will always be remembered for Fear of Flying, her shocking and liberating 1973 surprise best-seller (12 millions copies and counting), a publishing milestone that made her a media darling. Jong's celebrity status overshadowed her considerable literary skills and artistic intentions, an image problem the adventurous and talented writer has had to contend with ever since. This "polarization," as Templin terms it in her excellent introduction, makes for especially lively, far-ranging, and provocative interviews as Jong, whip smart and defiant, speaks with unfailing fluency about the often vituperative criticism leveled against women who write frankly about women's sexuality. Jong, who also writes discerningly about the "destructiveness of romanticism for women," is a keenly satirical writer with a passion for history and a sharp sense of humor that spices her fascinating conversations with Playboy, Susie Bright, and such serious literary thinkers as Templin. Donna Seaman
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