From AudioFile
In this fictional "memoir", Erica Jong brings the exotic Greek poet Sappho to life. Jong's passionate voice rivals that of Sappho herself. In the telling of the story, Jong also brings a good deal of knowledge of the gods and goddesses worshipped in early Greece. Jong's voice changes as each character contributes his or her part in the telling of Sappho's memoir. Not to be missed by those who have whispered Sappho's poems in moments of desire. R.S.E. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
New York Post
Read Sappho's Leap. It will give you a lot of fresh new ideas about life, love, and sex.
New York Observer
Jong's warm-blooded Sappho...is a champion of squirmy physicality, epic love and—best of all—heroic nonconformity.
Susan Cheever
If Odysseus had been a woman, this is the journey he might have taken.
Kirkus Reviews, 1 March 2003
[H]ighly entertaining....One of Jong's most enjoyable books.
USA Today
Sappho's Leap delights.
Book Description
"Sappho's Leap delights."—USA Today Sappho's Leap is a journey back 2,600 years to inhabit the mind of the greatest love poet the world has ever known. At the age of fourteen, Sappho is seduced by the beautiful poet Alcaeus, plots with him to overthrow the dictator of their island, and is caught and married off to a repellent older man in hopes that matrimony will keep her out of trouble. Instead, it starts her off on a series of amorous adventures with both men and women, taking her from Delphi to Egypt, and even to the Land of the Amazons and the shadowy realm of Hades. Erica Jong—always our keenest-eyed chronicler of the wonders and vagaries of sex and love—has found the perfect subject for a witty and sensuous tale of a passionate woman ahead of her time. A generation of readers who have been moved to laughter and recognition by Jong's heroines will be enchanted anew by her re-creation of the immortal poet.
About the Author
Erica Jong is the author of eight novels—including Fear of Flying—six books of poetry, and several works of nonfiction. She lives in New York City and Connecticut.
Sappho's Leap FROM THE PUBLISHER
Sappho's Leap is a journey back 2,600 years to inhabit the mind of the greatest love poet the world has ever known. At the age of fourteen, Sappho is seduced by the beautiful poet Alcaeus and plots with him to overthrow the dictator of their island. When they are caught, she is married off to a repellent older man in hopes that matrimony will keep her out of trouble. Instead, it starts her off on a series of amorous adventures with both men and women, taking her from Delphi to Egypt, and even to the Land of the Amazons and the shadowy realm of Hades. Complemented by Erica Jong's new translations of Sappho's fragments, as well as nine of the author's own poems about the epic poet who shaped all our understandings of poetic verse, Sappho's Leap is not to be missed. Jong's Sappho is one of her most unforgettable and exuberant heroines.
Art & Photography
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