Fear of Fifty: A Midlife Memoir

Erica Jong made waves with both her lauded and lambasted novel Fear of Flying and her first memoir Seducing the Demon. Now one of her finest works of nonfiction—a New York Times bestseller—is back in print with a new Afterword.

In Fear of Fifty, Erica Jong looks to the second half of her life and “goes right to the jugular of the women who lived wildly and vicariously through Fear of Flying” (Publishers Weekly), delivering highly entertaining stories and provocative insights on sex, marriage, aging, menopause, feminism, and motherhood.

Through humor and introspection, Jong navigates the challenges of maintaining independence and self-worth in a culture that often devalues older women. By blending personal narrative with broader cultural insights, Jong delivered a significant commentary on the female experience in contemporary society.