Shylock's Daughter

by Erica Jong

Book Overview

When the beautiful Jessica Pruitt arrives in Venice to star in a film based on The Merchant of Venice, she is preoccupied: she has recently lost custody of her daughter, and as an older actress she is increasingly aware of the difficulty of landing leading roles. One day, as she wanders through an old Jewish ghetto, Jessica is magically transported to sixteenth-century Venice where she finds herself the heroine of "Will" Shakespeare's play. Immediately...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393324923
• ISBN13: 9780393324921
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 254 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A thirty year journey that is true today in 2003!!!

I saw the book in one of those big franchise book stores and the cover caught my eye, white with a zipper half unzipped revealing red underneath. Now that I have read "Fear of Flying" the cover seems very symbolic and provacative just like the book.From the dedication to the afterword I was captivated by this book, a true literary work about a woman seeking self. It is not a chick lit book but true literature. I couldn't beleive I missed this book all my life, I am in my early thirties and had never heard about it but wish I had it starting in my teens. Every woman, every man should read this book it gives great insight on the insecurities of women. From sentence one I felt like Isadora Zelda White Wing spoke to me of my own doubts and emotional struggles. All of a sudden I was not alone...I was not lost, her journey was mine and mine hers.This book was about getting your passion back along with your identity, not sex or fantasies as so many want to dwell on. Although she is very candid about her sexual exploits(Isadora's) and the language is very forward but its relevent to the story.As a woman, I can say that the idea of the zipless f...k has had an appeal but after reading her encounters with Dr. Goodlove you have to re-address your impulses and figure out what you really are looking for. I think that was the true teaching of this book........find out who you really are not what or who defines you.

Powerful Novel Retains Its Place in History.

I get a little peeved when I read some reviews of this novel passing it off as some sort of salacious, "Peyton Place"-ish trifle meant to shock midwestern Americans. The truth is, over thirty years since its appearance, that the reviews Henry Miller and John Updike offered were no less than prophetic. The book is a genuine work of literary art and craft, frank but necessarily so in the same way "Lady Chatterley's Lover" was. Jong's style is compelling; her opinions, questions, and searches for her character's validations are no less valuable today. Perhaps a good portion of people were in a more open state of mind in the early seventies, more willing to experiment with lifestyle, substances, morality, even music and art. But are people today in less need of this kind of open consciousness? One only needs to examine the current political climate to see that we're heading for a revisionist version of McCarthyism. So perhaps the views expressed in "Fear of Flying" bear reexamination. This book has so many ways to praise it one hardly knows where to begin. But as a man too young to read it in 1973, I am profoundly grateful to Ms. Jong for the opportunity to read and grow with it now and, no doubt, many times in the future (seeing it back in print, I quickly purchased 3 copies to get me through several more planned readings in the coming years). This edition features the new 2002 afterword by the author, which is invaluable. Jong's perspective on the value of the book, its uncertain early history, publishing stats, and humbling effect on the lady herself add to the novel's resonance. This may be told from a much-needed woman's persepective, but I refuse to label it as "women's" or "feminine" lit. This towering work should not be so conveniently monikered. Its far too challenging, and important, for that. How about simply "classic"?

classic Jong

This kinda-trashy, kinda-intellectual novel is classic Jong. The protagonist, a Shakespearean actress, certainly isn't facing a shortage of [physical] encounters. In fact, she has a romp with the Bard himself. The books is a little bit difficult to follow, as it bounces back & forth between Shakespearan times & modern times. It is spiced up with a word or two of Italian here & there, references to contemporary art, andnd it is rich with Shakespearean history & references to Shakespeare's works. If you like a little Shakespeare in your steamy romance reads, this book is for you.

Mirror on the female soul/The neuroses of intelligent women

The beautiful thing about 'Fear of Flying' is that, if you are an intelligent, educated woman, you will see yourself in it and its protagonist, Isadora. All the more so if you are in your 20s or 30s, a career woman, and/or entertain artistic ambitions. As you read, you will find yourself constantly smiling in recognition and nodding in agreement and understanding.'Fear of Flying' captures the thoughts, fears, obsessions and self-destructions that all women indulge in but are afraid to admit. The great liberation I found in Erica Jong's novel was not the zipless f uck but rather "Wow, it's not just me!" about the stewing insecurity under the veneer of confidence and success. And, by itemizing those insecurities, she castrates them of their power.'Fear of Flying' is not about sex but, rather, how women seek to define and obliterate themselves through sex and through love. Isadora's sexual journey is pretty tame and ultimately not very liberating, and therein is the book's main point. Women will find 'Fear of Flying' affirming, and men should read it to better understand how women process their emotions and experiences. It would make a great gift for the well-intentioned but clueless boyfriend or husband.The narrative in 'Fear of Flying' is a bit wanting, albeit it is an idea-driven, not story-driven, novel. The Freudian aspect is also a bit overdone; it dates the book in this era of pop psychology and self-help, and is confusing to this generation no longer schooled in Fruedian theory.Nonetheless, it is an amazing book. Sadly, the need for women to learn to live within themselves, to claim their own destinies, remains as controversial a topic as it was decades ago. We haven't come that far, baby.

Funny, Brilliant and wildy entertaining

This is a real classic of the 60's generation, marking the onset of the sexual revolution with an era of honesty about sex, and especially the carnal desire of women.Definetely one of our greatest living authors, Jong has the courage to shock people into the realization that women and men are more alike than we sometimes want to believe.Very funny, intelligent, and yes, perverted, this book raised eyebrows when it came out, but it's still a fast-paced, fascinating and brilliant read.Move over, Roth, Miller, Robbins. Perverse exhilaration is no longer the realm of men.