Erica Jong (née Mann; born March 26, 1942) is an American novelist, satirist, and poet, known particularly for her 1973 novel Fear of Flying.

[4] Her father was a businessman of Polish Jewish ancestry who owned a gifts and home accessories company[5] known for its mass production of porcelain dolls.

[citation needed] In 1963, Jong graduated from Barnard College, and in 1965, with an MA in 18th century English Literature from Columbia University.

Jong employed psychological and humorous descriptive elements, rich cultural and literary references, frank depictions of and ruminations on sex.

The book addresses some of the conflicts that were arising for women in late 1960s - early 1970s America - - of womanhood, femininity, sex, and relationships, versus the quest for freedom and purpose.

Jong is mentioned in "Highlands", the closing song of Bob Dylan's Grammy Award-winning album Time Out of Mind (1997), as a "women author" that the narrator reads.