Erica Jong poems

So much more here than "just" sexy food poems. Sometimes the images may seem overwrought, and Jong's early work clearly wants to be polemical. But as a young feminist coming of age in the new millennium, I still found them to be raw and startlingly beautiful. I pick it up whenever I'm looking for honesty to this day.

Of course, it's beautiful. Not all of it, but the good is so very good.

Erica Jong is probably best known for her 1973 novel, Fear of Flying. This book was published in 1971, and includes poems that had been previously published as far back as 1968.

There are some good lines, mixed with boring ones. There are pieces that flat out miss. It's the type of collection that is known as feminist, and therefore will always be held in high regard by starry-eyed young women who focus on identity while turning a blind eye to quality. She whines about not being taken seriously as a poet, because she's female. Sylvia Plath is the subject of a piece and is mentioned in two others.

My favorites:
'The Sheets"
"Walking Through the Upper East Side" - therapy
the first section of "Two More Scenes from the Lives of Vegetables" - eating borscht

It is not an emptiness,
the fruit between your legs,
but the long hall of history,
& dreams are coming down the hall
by moonlight.
- "Fruits and Vegetables"

There are no such things as still lives.
- "Fruits and Vegetables"

I look for the lines between the silences.
He looks only for the silences.
- "His Silence"

Nothing much happened here.
A few jewelry shops changed hands.
A brewery. Banks.
The university put up a swastika, took it down.
- "The Heidelberg Landlady"

One of my favorite authors.

Apparently, I just really like poems about sex. (No, but this is really well made and with such a clear, compelling voice all throughout. There is beauty to be found in the obscene. Love.)

Helt ok diktsamling. Litt tungt tilgjengelig, erotisk og feministisk.

This was a fun, quick read. I know Erica Jong had written Fear of Flying, but I was still surprised by how sexy and funny these poems were. My favorite lines were from "Two More Scenes from the Lives of the Vegetables II: Carrot," which read:
"Actually we believe the carrot to be
God's penis.
That is why we walk behind it.
It is disappointing, wrinkled and small.
It's the only one we've got.
How we dream of a great carrot to follow!
Blown up like a Macy's balloon on Thanksgiving,"

Det er lidt uretfærdigt, at den læser som et resume af Fear of Flying... men den bog elskede jeg.

Veksler meget - mellem koncept, køn og konfession.

Jeg tror den fortjener en genlæsning.

First poetry book of hers I read. In the Fall of my annus horribilis, she sent me this book along with Half Lives and Loveroot. She made a wretched year tolerable.

i don't read much poetry, but this was very sexual and edgy. also very empowering from a female perspective. i liked it

When I was in college in the late 70's and working in the library in the college, I helped catalog new books that had come in. This book had been ordered by Professor in the Agriculture Department and when my colleague opened the book, she was shocked. The Professor was contacted and he denied knowing what the book was about and thought it was about "fruits and vegetables". Unfortunately, the book was deemed "too racy" to go on the regular shelves and was held behind the counter. I knew Erica Jong's writing and enjoyed this slender book of erotic poetry. I am sorry it was not out on the regular shelves and hope that this next generation of readers are able to enjoy Erica Jong and appreciate her genius.