Defending Her Life as a Writer in Self-Justifying Terms
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I picked up this book with the impression that it would tell me more about how Ms. Jong writes her books. Well, I was mistaken. Seducing the Demon doesn't say very much on that subject. If that's your reason for wanting to read the book, you can skip it.
Over her career, Ms. Jong has read a great deal and writes in the book knowledgeably about 20th century women writers and the constraints that each experienced. These thoughts are interspaced with some fine poetry and nice long quotations. You feel like you are reading The New Yorker.
As you know, Ms. Jong has her bawdy side . . . which she feels quite comfortable sharing with you. So you'll read about a lot of tawdry escapades that I'm sure you'll feel like you really didn't need to know. I felt a little soiled by the end of the book by her various recountings.
I couldn't help but feel that some of this was exhibitionism. By contrast, for example, her back cover photo suggests a well lifted face. The book has references to plastic surgery . . . but no suggestion that the author may be an aficionado.
She meets the rich and famous . . . and sometimes the literary . . . but there's not much to report.
It's a strangely incomplete memoir from someone who has been a successful writer for quite along time. It seems like it's easier for her to reveal "sin" than to reveal herself as a wife, mother and friend.
The cover for her strong desire for inappropriate sexual connections is a stylish description of the seductive nature of writing and how sex stimulates writing . . . and writing's ability to keep her from being depressed. As justifications go, it's quite nicely written. But her arguments didn't really persuade me. Ms. Jong has some pretty severe self-esteem issues. In fact, that's the most revealing part of the book . . . and the most interesting.
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