

The paperback (November 1974) sold three million copies within months and was number one on the charts. The hardback edition (November 1973) reached the lower rungs of the best-seller list with reviews that ranged from rave to scathing. Love it or hate it, the book made history.

House of Representatives accepted its first female page, and AT&T settled a major lawsuit by agreeing to end pay discrimination against women-Holt, Rinehart and Winston published Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying, the mock memoir of a young woman’s quest for autonomy, adventure, and mind-altering sex. In 1973-the same year that the Supreme Court decided Roe v. (Ms.)reading Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying Joanne Barkan ▪ Fall 2009
