Fear of Flying

Erica Jong’s groundbreaking first novel Fear of Flying set off fierce debates and a purchasing frenzy when first published 40 years ago. An international bestseller, it electrified readers around the world, shattered expectations of fiction by and about women, explored a new level of female sexual freedom, and fired changes that rippled through the zeitgeist faster than its freshly coined term, “zipless fuck.” Liberated by Isadora Wing’s journey of self-discovery, readers made certain this book has never been out of print, has sold over 20 million copies, and has been printed in 27 languages. Isadora Wing’s story is our own.

Fear of Flying remains as relevant and provocative as it was in 1973. Isadora now likely would fly American Airlines to Italy rather than the Pan Am flight referenced in the book, yet her inner monologue debating the importance of sex, education, marriage, child rearing, and career mirrors the top-of-mind concerns of today’s thirtysomethings. And without Fear of Flying, there would be no Sex in the City, no Fifty Shades of Grey, no “Girls.”

For the 40th Anniversary of the innovative and trend-setting novel, Henry Holt and Penguin Classics present two special editions: A tribute to the original hardcover, Fear of Flying: 40th Anniversary Edition, with a new introduction by Jennifer Weiner (Henry Holt and Company/ISBN: 978-0-8050-9858-7/On Sale October 8, 2013) and Fear of Flying: Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, with a new introduction by Theresa Rebeck (Penguin Classics/ISBN: 978-0-14-310735-4/On Sale September 24, 2013).

The publishers are thrilled to reintroduce this timeless story to all those who bought it in 1973 and stuffed it under their mattresses, and equally excited to introduce it fresh to a new generation of readers, as well. Fear of Flying reminds women — and men — that the daringly bold prose of Erica Jong launched a new way of thinking about gender, sexuality, and liberty in our society. It also shows us that while we’ve made great strides, we still have a long way to go.

ABOUT ERICA JONG

Erica Jong’s best known work, Fear of Flying, has sold more than 20 million copies and been translated into 27 languages. Her other titles include celebrated fiction and nonfiction: Sugar in My Bowl, Sappho’s Leap; Fanny, Being the True History of the Adventures of Fanny Hackabout-Jones; Shylock’s Daughter (formerly titled Serenissima); Inventing Memory, a novel of mothers and daughters; Witches; What Do Women Want? and seven widely respected volumes of poetry, including Fruits & Vegetables, Half-Lives, Loveroot, At the Edge of the Body, and Becoming Light, among others. In 1998, she was honored with the United Nations Award for Excellence in Literature. She has received Poetry magazine’s Bess Hokin Prize and the Deauville Award for Literary Excellence in France. In Italy, she was given the Sigmund Freud Award for Literature in 1975. An honorary doctorate was bestowed on Jong by the College of Staten Island, part of the City University of New York.