Seducing the Demon
Writing for My Life
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Beschreibung des Verlags
Erica Jong's national bestselling memoir was probably the most wildly reviewed book of 2006. Critics called it everything from “brutally funny,” “risqué and wonderfully unrepentant,” “rowdy, self-deprecating, and endearing” to “car wreck.”
Through her own experiences, Jong shares her triumphs and tribulations, embracing the complexity of womanhood and defying societal expectations. With a keen wit and unflinching honesty, she encapsulates the tension between artistic aspirations and the harsh realities of life, underscoring the transformative power of storytelling as a means of navigating the complexities of identity, relationships, and the pursuit of truth in a world often clouded by superficiality.
From her daring escapades to her insightful musings on society and womanhood, this book is a testament to the power of self-expression and the pursuit of personal liberation—A captivating and empowering read.
“Writing a book in your twenties that becomes a worldwide phenomenon hardly prepares you for the silence and despair of a writer’s life. My life was not typical. But no writer’s life is typical. By its very nature, writing is unique to every writer. Practicing writing is like practicing freedom. You are always on your way, never there. People are constantly asking, “How did you do it?” After a while you start to ask yourself. This book is an attempt to answer that question—regrets, mistakes, divorces, lawsuits and all.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In four discursive essays and an introduction, Jong (Fear of Flying; Any Woman's Blues) ruminates on the elements of her writer's life. Most notable is sexuality: pursuit of the muse has often meant pursuit of a demon lover, a man utterly wrong for her. She walks away from Ted Hughes in the 1970s, but not from many other wrong men. Jong has had four husbands, one child and 20 books in the past four decades. Now in her 60s, she's well-read, well-traveled, therapized, happily married and sexually satisfied. Her memoir in vignettes asserts that without writing, Jong would go crazy, drink well beyond the excesses of her past and be miserable. Writing has propelled her forward into a fulfilled life. There is a fine section on women writers who pursued death (Plath, Sexton, Woolf); Jong explains why she refused to be one of them. These chatty, gossipy essays are just serious enough to count as literary. Jong, however, shrugs off the immense economic privilege that allowed her to write and travel from adolescence and meet famous people who influenced her writing early. She also never explains how she writes. Engaging and amusing, this work is less substantive than it could or should be.
