What Do Women Want?

Erica Jong's two rules of writing are "never cut funny" and "keep the pages turning." And Jong delivers in these twenty-six essays, coupling frank and risque stories about her own life with provocative pieces on her passion for politics, literature, Italy, and—yes—sex.

Originally published in 1998, this updated edition features four new essays. What Do Women Want? offers a startlingly original look at where women are and where they need to be in the twenty-first century: Are women better off today than they were twenty-five years ago? Has burning pre-nup agreements become the new peak of romance? Why do our greatest women writers too often get dissed and overlooked? Why do powerful women scare men? And who is the perfect man? How does the mother-daughter relationship influence cycles of feminism and backlash? What is sexy?

Revealing the challenges and triumphs faced by women today, this book serves as a guiding light, challenging traditional perspectives and encouraging readers to embrace their own desires, aspirations, and dreams.Erica Jong is the author of nineteen books of poetry, fiction, and memoir, including Fear of Flying, which has more than 18 million copies in print worldwide. Her most recent essays have appeared in The New York Times Book Review, and she is a frequent guest on television talk shows. Currently working on a novel featuring Isadora Wing—the heroine of Fear of Flying—as a woman of a certain age, Erica and her lawyer husband live in New York City and Connecticut. Her daughter, Molly Jong-Fast, is also an author.

Erica Jong left a Ph.D. program at Columbia to write her ground-breaking novel Fear of Flying, published in 1973. Jong is the author of numerous award-winning books of poetry and novels including Fanny, How to Save Your Own Life, Parachutes and Kisses, Any Woman’s Blues, and the forthcoming Sappho’s Leap. She is also the author of the memoir Fear of Fifty. She lives in New York City and Connecticut.