bunnieslikediamonds's review against another edition
2.0
Much like listening to your narcissistic friend complain about her miserable relationship until you want to yell "Just leave already!" There is some smut and an orgy, but the navel-gazing spoiled the fun.
yourfriendtorie's review against another edition
1.0
I really wanted to like this book after being so disgusted by the stories of the passive women in Sara Davidson's "Loose Change." I mentioned in my review of that book how the most valuable idea I took from it was that the women of that generation learned lessons the hard way so those of mine wouldn't have to. I kind of feel the same way about Erica Jong's book, which is the story of the time she spent psyching herself up to leave her husband. While Isadora, the Jong character, isn't exactly passive, her desperation for male companionship and her paralyzing indecisiveness were way too tiresome to spend an entire novel reading about. Her critique of fame, which is ostensibly what the book wants to be, is overshadowed by annoying talk of psychoanalysis and other boring, self-indulgent trends of the 1970's. Erica Jong is a good writer, and at the very least she has a very feminist sensibility, but loveless bourgeois marriages and their attendant hypocrisy, deception, and guilt can only be played over and over for so long before it becomes embarrassing.
biscuithead's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Erica Jong has done it again! I love her. Also the cover on storygraph is horrible, I wish they would upload the 1977 version.
lizshine74's review against another edition
3.0
There are things about this book I loved and things I didn't. Fear of Flying was a huge influence on me when I first came across it at 16. I had a conservative upbringing, so the bold, open sexuality and wit of the main character blew my mind. This book had that too, but to be in Isadora Wing's head at this point in my life was a different experience. She's something of an unreliable narrator with her inflated sense of self and her liberated, but not liberated ways. In the end she really just wants a man to dominate and conquer her. :/
chajara's review against another edition
5.0
I can't get enough of Erica Jong. It surprises me sometimes that this was written in the 70's and yet I feel she touches something inside of me several decades later. I particularly appreciated this book more than fear of flying, because as she says so herself, she takes a much more optimistic approach at love, an idea she might have turned me onto.
acton's review against another edition
5.0
I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this novel--I wasn't expecting it to be so timeless and relevant. Sure, it is dated, but not in ways that are important. Jong uses some wonderful quotes and provides plenty of insight and food for thought.
This is a novel about how she finally gets out of a hideous relationship, and about her other friendships and romances, as well. She writes a lot about the various forms of jealousy which had been so much on her mind.
"Jealousy is all the fun you think they had..." Jealousy requires an imagination, sometimes a very productive one, and it can be dangerous and destructive. SO true. The novel contains plenty of professional jealousy, as well as the romantic type.
Most of all, though, Jong is communicating the idea that no matter how much it hurts, real love--not a relationship born out of seeking mere security, but unconditional, substantial love--is worth the risk of pain. It takes courage to reject cynicism and remain open-hearted.
Oh, and then there's a paragraph on p. 195 that shows Jong to be a true Bookcrosser!
"...Books go out into the world, travel mysteriously from hand to hand, and somehow find their way to the people who need them at the times when they need them. Josh had read my poems two years before because his parents and I had a friend in common and the books had been passed along. Cosmic forces guide such passings-along...The book propels itself from hand to hand by the tranmitted energy of the author's long-distance wishing. When you find a book in a rented beach house or the library of an old ocean liner, it is hardly by chance. The book is waiting there, waiting summer after salty summer, perhaps, to change your life...."
This is a novel about how she finally gets out of a hideous relationship, and about her other friendships and romances, as well. She writes a lot about the various forms of jealousy which had been so much on her mind.
"Jealousy is all the fun you think they had..." Jealousy requires an imagination, sometimes a very productive one, and it can be dangerous and destructive. SO true. The novel contains plenty of professional jealousy, as well as the romantic type.
Most of all, though, Jong is communicating the idea that no matter how much it hurts, real love--not a relationship born out of seeking mere security, but unconditional, substantial love--is worth the risk of pain. It takes courage to reject cynicism and remain open-hearted.
Oh, and then there's a paragraph on p. 195 that shows Jong to be a true Bookcrosser!
"...Books go out into the world, travel mysteriously from hand to hand, and somehow find their way to the people who need them at the times when they need them. Josh had read my poems two years before because his parents and I had a friend in common and the books had been passed along. Cosmic forces guide such passings-along...The book propels itself from hand to hand by the tranmitted energy of the author's long-distance wishing. When you find a book in a rented beach house or the library of an old ocean liner, it is hardly by chance. The book is waiting there, waiting summer after salty summer, perhaps, to change your life...."
naomistrange's review against another edition
2.0
this bitch is CRAY-ZAY! seriously. I guess typical female. But god damn. can she fuckin make up her mind?
rowan_d's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, if you know me, you may know that the first book in this series, "Fear of Flying," is one of my three favorite books of all time. "How to Save Your Own Life" is not as brilliant as its predecessor, but it is still well worth reading. My love for Isadora would not let me stop without following through with the whole of her life in print (and I plan to read the later books, as well). Every time I started to get bored or discontent with this book, there would come a sudden moment of briliance to remind me of why I loved the first book so much. The final chapters are well worth the wait, and muchly bring us back around to the Isadora I once knew. The poetry included at the end is brilliant and striking and insightful. If possible, I highly recommend finding the 30th anniversary edition with the afterward by Ms. Jong. The final words of her essay will break your heart in the most beautiful way.
thebookendreviews's review
3.0
To celebrate International Women's Day How to Save Your Own Life by Erica Jong has been republished by Agora Books. Originally published in the 1970's, this book follows Isadora Wing's story and her trials and tribulations of love set against the glamorous backdrop of Hollywood.
Navigating daily life we follow Isadora as she tackles work, friends, lovers and a bore of a husband. NYC in the 1970's and apparently everyone has a shrink, an avocado plant and an affair. Isadora is no different.
This well-written character driven book is witty, sad and shocking in equal measure.
Thank you to @agorabooksldn for my chance to be on the book tour and for my #gifted digital copy of the book.
Navigating daily life we follow Isadora as she tackles work, friends, lovers and a bore of a husband. NYC in the 1970's and apparently everyone has a shrink, an avocado plant and an affair. Isadora is no different.
This well-written character driven book is witty, sad and shocking in equal measure.
Thank you to @agorabooksldn for my chance to be on the book tour and for my #gifted digital copy of the book.