Fruits & Vegetables

by Erica Jong

Hardcover issue of Jong's first book, a collection of mostly erotic poems.

Genres: Poetry, Feminism, Womens

86 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Erica Jong—novelist, poet, and essayist—has consistently used her craft to help provide women with a powerful and rational voice in forging a feminist consciousness. She has published 21 books, including eight novels, six volumes of poetry, six books of non-fiction and numerous articles in magazines and newspapers such as the New York Times, the Sunday Times of London, Elle, Vogue, and the New York Times Book Review.

In her groundbreaking first novel, Fear of Flying (which has sold twenty-six million copies in more than forty languages), she introduced Isadora Wing, who also plays a central part in three subsequent novels—How to Save Your Own Life, Parachutes and Kisses, and Any Woman's Blues. In her three historical novels—Fanny, Shylock's Daughter, and Sappho's Leap—she demonstrates her mastery of eighteenth-century British literature, the verses of Shakespeare, and ancient Greek lyric, respectively. A memoir of her life as a writer, Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life, came out in March 2006. It was a national bestseller in the US and many other countries. Erica’s latest book, Sugar in My Bowl, is an anthology of women writing about sex, has been recently released in paperback.

Erica Jong was honored with the United Nations Award for Excellence in Literature. She has also received Poetry magazine's Bess Hokin Prize, also won by W.S. Merwin and Sylvia Plath. In France, she received the Deauville Award for Literary Excellence and in Italy, she received the Sigmund Freud Award for Literature. The City University of New York awarded Ms. Jong an honorary PhD at the College of Staten Island.

Her works have appeared all over the world and are as popular in Eastern Europe, Japan, China, and other Asian countries as they have been in the United States and Western Europe. She has lectured, taught and read her work all over the world.

A graduate of Barnard College and Columbia University's Graduate Faculties where she received her M.A. in 18th Century English Literature, Erica Jong also attended Columbia's graduate writing program where she studied poetry with Stanley Kunitz and Mark Strand. In 2007, continuing her long-standing relationship with the university, a large collection of Erica’s archival material was acquired by Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library, where it will be available to graduate and undergraduate students. Ms. Jong plans to teach master classes at Columbia and also advise the Rare Book Library on the acquisition of other women writers’ archives.

Calling herself “a defrocked academic,” Ms. Jong has partly returned to her roots as a scholar. She has taught at Ben Gurion University in Israel, Bennington College in the US, Breadloaf Writers’ Conference in Vermont and many other distinguished writing programs and universities. She loves to teach and lecture, though her skill in these areas has sometimes crowded her writing projects. “As long as I am communicating the gift of literature, I’m happy,” Jong says. A poet at heart, Ms. Jong believes that words can save the world.

Reviews

[Lukáš Palán · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bom žorno.

Tuhle knížku jsem našel v Itálii v nějaký knihovně u linkin parku. Vzal jsem to do ruky, objednal si pizzu, špagety, gelato a dal se do čtení. Jako vše v Itálii, i toto bylo dost eros ramazzoti. Pochva sem, pochva tam, uřízni si penis, teče mi krev, prostě všechny propriety emancipované poezie. Se vším nemůžu než souhlasit. Péra bych ostatním chlapům taky uřízl a o tom, že krvácení není žádnej med se tu snad hádat nemusíme. A jelikož si dost často dám nějakou pizzu, brambůrky a Haribo, dokážu se též velmi snadno vžít do těch bolestí břicha, které doprovází sezení v jahodách. Tudíž z empatie 7,5/10

[Maxwell Bauman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun, quick read. I know Erica Jong had written Fear of Flying, but I was still surprised by how sexy and funny these poems were. My favorite lines were from "Two More Scenes from the Lives of the Vegetables II: Carrot," which read:
"Actually we believe the carrot to be
God's penis.
That is why we walk behind it.
It is disappointing, wrinkled and small.
It's the only one we've got.
How we dream of a great carrot to follow!
Blown up like a Macy's balloon on Thanksgiving,"

[Ermina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Krasno, divno, krasno, nastalo čak prije "Straha od letenja".

[Anna H · Rating 1 out of 5]

weird racist stuff about Chinese people and also she uses the n word

it’s also a lot of poems that are ABOUT poems and poems that are edgy for the sake of being edgy. i’m not fully against either but i can only take that in small quantities.

so overall, no.

[Nicole Gervasio · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much more here than "just" sexy food poems. Sometimes the images may seem overwrought, and Jong's early work clearly wants to be polemical. But as a young feminist coming of age in the new millennium, I still found them to be raw and startlingly beautiful. I pick it up whenever I'm looking for honesty to this day.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course, it's beautiful. Not all of it, but the good is so very good.

[Thomas Rasmussen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Det er lidt uretfærdigt, at den læser som et resume af Fear of Flying... men den bog elskede jeg.

Veksler meget - mellem koncept, køn og konfession.

Jeg tror den fortjener en genlæsning.

[Marianne Barron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helt ok diktsamling. Litt tungt tilgjengelig, erotisk og feministisk.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite authors.

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apparently, I just really like poems about sex. (No, but this is really well made and with such a clear, compelling voice all throughout. There is beauty to be found in the obscene. Love.)

[Naomi Gheorghe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fruits and Vegetables was uneven for me—some poems sparkled, others fell flat. But it did something important: it convinced me to start reading poetry at all. For that alone, I’m glad I picked it up.

[JH · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful volume of poetry. So glad I learned about this and was able to get my hands on a copy!

[Brendan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Erica Jong is probably best known for her 1973 novel, Fear of Flying. This book was published in 1971, and includes poems that had been previously published as far back as 1968.

There are some good lines, mixed with boring ones. There are pieces that flat out miss. It's the type of collection that is known as feminist, and therefore will always be held in high regard by starry-eyed young women who focus on identity while turning a blind eye to quality. She whines about not being taken seriously as a poet, because she's female. Sylvia Plath is the subject of a piece and is mentioned in two others.

My favorites:
'The Sheets"
"Walking Through the Upper East Side" - therapy
the first section of "Two More Scenes from the Lives of Vegetables" - eating borscht

It is not an emptiness,
the fruit between your legs,
but the long hall of history,
& dreams are coming down the hall
by moonlight.
- "Fruits and Vegetables"

There are no such things as still lives.
- "Fruits and Vegetables"

I look for the lines between the silences.
He looks only for the silences.
- "His Silence"

Nothing much happened here.
A few jewelry shops changed hands.
A brewery. Banks.
The university put up a swastika, took it down.
- "The Heidelberg Landlady"

[Glenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was in college in the late 70's and working in the library in the college, I helped catalog new books that had come in. This book had been ordered by Professor in the Agriculture Department and when my colleague opened the book, she was shocked. The Professor was contacted and he denied knowing what the book was about and thought it was about "fruits and vegetables". Unfortunately, the book was deemed "too racy" to go on the regular shelves and was held behind the counter. I knew Erica Jong's writing and enjoyed this slender book of erotic poetry. I am sorry it was not out on the regular shelves and hope that this next generation of readers are able to enjoy Erica Jong and appreciate her genius.

[Niño Manaog Saavedra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pakwan*

Dai ko malingaw-
lingawan itong pakwan
Kan sarong aldaw
ko pa kinakan
Nagkukurukintab
makinis na kabilugan
Dai ko natios
na hiling-hilingon lang
Kan binaak ko
an itong kadakulaan
Mga apat kabilog
sana si tûlang
Sinarasagpang ko
lugod si kapulahan
Mga walong pildang
dai ako mahinggustuhan
Sa nguso ko
sagkod ngonyan
Nagbuburulos
an asukar asin siram

#AraaldawMaanayo
#BikolBeautiful

[Mimielle LaFauve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Erica Jong poems

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

i don't read much poetry, but this was very sexual and edgy. also very empowering from a female perspective. i liked it

[Laura Durnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

First poetry book of hers I read. In the Fall of my annus horribilis, she sent me this book along with Half Lives and Loveroot. She made a wretched year tolerable.

[Eliana]

Beautifully gifted artist writer with a wry yet good humored, worldview and a penchant for adventure!