Fear of Flying

It felt awkward to read this as a middle-aged middle-class male: the gender, age, and zeitgeist gaps combine to form quite a chasm. Even so, and even though I've never cared for the bildungsroman, Fear of Flying was quite beautiful. Jong does a magnificent job letting uas watch her protagonist's transformation from a whiny, self-absorbed, hand-wringing New York princess to a self-aware human worthy of respect. There isn't much here for me to relate to—I was more oh, grow UP than BTDT—but when I reminded myself to squint, to think about the 70s and women then, my admiration for Jong just kept growing. I'm really glad this book existed then, and somehow wish I could relate to it more.