Fear of Flying by Erica Jong (2006, Unabridged, Compact Disc)

First published in 1973, Jong’s revolutionary coming of age satire changed the face of women’s literature forever. Not only was it unabashedly and enthusiastically sexual, but it was also funny, approachable and wise, providing an affirmative female credo for generations of women whose values and self-image had been shaped almost entirely by what men thought they were all about. Writer Isadora White Wing, just shy of 30 and surprised and disappointed that her marriage to her psychiatrist husband has turned static and unfulfilling, runs off with a British analyst she meets at a Vienna conference and believes to be her soulmate. The idyll goes awry. In seeking, however, a man who will complete her, she learns instead that she is already whole and that this truth is more liberating than any romantic adventure could ever be. Reader Hope Davis makes a credible and personable Isadora and handles assorted foreign accents with ease. An interview follows the novel in which Jong discusses its inspiration and creation as well as the impact of the book’s thirty-year history. A timeless classic.