Susie Interviews Erica Jong

This week I'm in the studio with the peerless Erica Jong, the eloquent and prolific author first discovered for her 1973 work, Fear of Flying. I asked Erica about how her sex life has changed as she's gotten older, and for once, I got a straight answer!

We talked about what it's like for older women to take a younger man as a lover, and EJ was blunt: "You don't want to be their nurse and you don't want to be their purse."

She's equally forceful about what it's like to see your own generation of men dying around you, or compromised sexually by a host of illnesses that you're never supposed to mention in mainstream medial chitchat.

We had such a good time— she is so well-spoken and candid, and it's in stark contrast to a lot of the "chicklit conversation vacuum" we see around us today. We also talked about raising daughters when you're perceived as a "sex symbol," or "permissive," — not to mention bikini waxes, Noam Chomsky, and why Jane Austin would have a hell of time publishing her novels today.

In Bed with Susie Bright 299: Aging Fearlessly with Erica Jong

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Then, in the Try This at Home mailbag, I get an earful about Christian domestic discipline, (CDD! It even has its own acronym) — a movement that would be a subset of the S/M community, if it wasn't a Bible-spanking offshoot of Jerry Falwell's personal philosophy!

Photo: Book Jacket for Erica's new memoir, Seducing the Demon.

Don't forget, you can send your confidential questions, feedback about the show, and requests for free-coupon girly cards to susie@audible.com. (Episode 299, July 6, 2007)

Comments

[John]

I bought Fear of flying on a long Greyhound bus ride from a little commune in rural British Columbia to the Bay Area where my father was dying of Congestive Heart Failure.

I was traveling with phoney papers 'cause I was wanted in the US, so I was keeping a low profile (the papers were dicey). I chose her book from the rack in a a gift/card store near the terminal in Oroville, Washinton. I cannot tell you why, since I didn't know who Erica Jong was but the cover said she was a poet.

I had a wood the whole time and it took almost 24 hours, I was wearing Levis and a cotton shirt--traveling light I did have a straw cowboy hat which remained on my lap.

I have read most of what she has written since.

Without the hat

[Oscar the Observer]

Hello :). I love Erica Jong too. I especially loved Sappo (sp?) by her.

Anyway, can you send me by email transcript please? I am deaf and will love to read the interview! Thanks!