Diciottesimo secolo. Una donna sta scrivendo. È nella sua sfarzosa camera da letto. La sua identità è un mistero, così come la sua vita. La fama può diffonderne la grazia e magnificarne i lineamenti, eppure è penoso farne un ritratto che non ne esalti al contempo il carattere. Del resto, le voci al riguardo sono sempre state dubbie e le espressioni dei suoi peccati effimere. Aver sentito parlare, anche molto, di Fanny – quest’ultimo il nome per gli amici, Frances sui documenti più ufficiali e Fannikins per gli amanti più appassionati – non va a genio a chi potrebbe saggiare dalla sua viva e vivace voce la veridica storia delle avventure favoleggiate. Ed ecco che lo scrittoio si libera. Fanny depone la penna d’oca, si alza e si mostra in tutta la sua radiosa bellezza. Chloe, la sua cagnetta, l’ha distratta. L’occasione fa presto a presentarsi per chi desiderando sbirciare le sue memorie si trovi lì vicino nel parco di Merriman, nel quale «il verde è quel verde che non esiste se non in Inghilterra»…
La ricerca della fortuna, il coraggio e il peccato senza pentimento di una donna nell’Inghilterra del diciottesimo secolo. Erica Jong racconta le avventure di Fanny Hackabout-Jones: e non ne nasconde gli aspetti licenziosi e scandalosi per l’epoca. In primo luogo la sua vita a Lymeworth e l’esperienza della seduzione; l’iniziazione affascinante alla stregoneria e i suoi viaggi con i Banditi Gaudenti, l’oltraggioso e pure complice soggiorno in un bordello; nessun patetismo, neppure quando le situazioni crude in cui si imbatte sarebbero capaci di far impallidire individui più maturi e di ben più forte tempra. E ancora, trascorsa poca della sua giovane vita e disvelatosi il suo destino, la piena affermazione di sé e il gioco dei ruoli, che le suggerisce l’idea di un mondo a misura di donna. Il personaggio richiama innegabilmente le vicende di Fanny Hill che erano state narrate nel Settecento da John Cleland in Fanny Hill - Memorie di una donna di piacere, un capolavoro della narrativa erotica, ma la prospettiva della Jong è totalmente altra da quella seguita dallo scrittore e appare incalzata dall’appassionante visione di un forte ruolo della donna: brillante, colta e smaliziata. Una parabola di avventure variegate, in altri termini, che si svolge con un’attenzione peculiare all’erotismo dell’audace protagonista e che talora riesce ad imbarazzare. Peraltro, l’intento di questa eroina è nobile perché le memorie trascritte costituiscono un testamento spirituale per la sua unica figlia, Belinda. Proprio con le iniziali parole di Fanny, rivolte all’amata figlia, in chiusura mettiamo in guardia i futuri lettori di questa storia e li invitiamo a riflettere sull’ingegno di Fanny e a perdonarla se il Vizio nei suoi racconti non dovesse soccombere o essere punito: «Ogni cura possibile è stata adottata al fine di non arrecare deliberata offesa al Pudore e alla Castità; tuttavia l'Autrice attesta che la Verità è Dea ben più severa della Pudicizia, e là dove si è resa necessaria una scelta fra quella e codesta, è sempre stata la Verità a, giustamente, trionfare».
http://www.mangialibri.com/node/11935

...found myself unable to generate A Will To Read so I reached into the past (thanks be to Copperfish Books, FLA) and bought a like new hard cover first edition of Jong's Fanny (read it way back in the 80s) and found it to be the tonic I needed. A romp...hack writing? not so when Erica is the writer. The only time the story vexed was when a hapless Fanny found herself locked in Madame Coxtart's upstairs chamber unable to halloo Littlehat. Full of vexation became I, "Nay Fanny find a make do cudgel with which to smash the window pane, your tiny fists-o-fury will simply not do." But on the whole Jong's Fanny was over the top fun. I dyed! (the thinking to that goes back to the Romans and then transferred to The Church as was self evident that a man's climax must shorten his life. Such pleasure must be paid for...see Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe by James A. Brundage.)

I wanted to like this book so badly. I recently read Fear of Flying for the first time, and I absolutely loved how it represented the main character’s psyche in the midst of second wave feminism; when I learned that Jong had written Fanny as a historical romance/adventure novel I couldn’t wait to read it. The problem for me seems to be that for all the outlandish things that happen to Fanny throughout the novel, it never really engaged or immersed me in the plot. Huge events like kidnappings kind of come and go within highly repetitive monologues, with no action or honest emotion. Between characters there is a never-ending discussion of philosophy, but rarely any moments of true connection or conversation, which kept leaving me wondering - why should I care?

Along with this, the writing style seemed more and more contrived as I went on, and the characters’ voices began to grate on me. I’m all for reviving old speaking and writing styles, and I love curling up with classics. Here though, I couldn’t get through a page without Fanny interrupting the plot with “O” this, “AH” that, and it became increasingly repetitive and unnecessary. She continues to wax about the plight of women (which I’m not denying exists,) and while she does observe some truly awful things...nothing really that bad happens to her? At least it doesn’t in the first 3/4 of the story. She comes from a place of relative privilege, and she never comes to realize it in the least, and in every situation she is thrown into she ends up in a much better way than all the “commoners” she spends so much time around, and never emotes in a relatable way.

All in all it was entertaining enough to finish, but there was a bit too much to slog through to get to the fun parts. This story had so much potential to be exciting and even poignant at times, that I found it to be flatly disappointing.

A rollicking roll in the hay with enough names for the male and female genitalia that you can keep your lover amused for a very long vacation.

I've already read this but it was easily 10 years ago. I remember loving it a lot so I'm revisiting it. I've been let down and bored by the political correctness and unoffensiveness of many modern books and, if memory serves, this book doesn't suffer from those problems. So far, I'm enjoying it all over again. =)

Jong’s 1980 historical fiction, Fanny: Being the True History of the Adventures of Fanny Hackabout-Jones is a masterpiece, in my opinion, a perfect crossroads of historical research and bawdy-ass humor, spotlighting Jong’s enviable intellect.

Finished at last. This took me about four times longer than it usually takes me to read a book. I thought it would never end. Not that it's a challenging read, I just didn't want to pick it up. I'm sure it's an interesting exercise in writing a bawdy 18th Century novel but there are enough of those around already. Basically an erotic/ soft porn novel wrapped up as some kind of intellectual exercise.

A feminist parody of the 18th-century picaresque novel form.

Fiction

At first it just seemed a bit overdrawn (to say the least) but upon sinking into the book a bit more I realized it was as if I was reading in the 18th century. One of the earliest forms of novel: the travel memoir and at a time when writing as a woman was highly unusual (and unseemly). Thus Erica once again supports women's rights and equality to men even while her heroine lives by some extremely chauvinistic standards. An excellent framework for her soapbox to fit into prettily. Her obvious knowledge of her abstruse subject continued to delight me and her creativity at completing the various strands of her plot's weaving was once again surprising and felt complete. Something whole was created and hangs there now upon my wall, shimmering in languid light of the summer solstice's setting sun.

This book is so funny. The word "Bawdy" is perfect.

In my top 10. Forever!