'Though 'tis clear that Mrs. Erica Jong is indebted in the extream to various Wits of the 18th Century, to wit: Mr. Pope, Mr. Fielding, Mr. Defoe and that erotick blood, Mr. John Cleland, still, 'tis they who owe their Thanks to her. For by relating the True History of one Fanny Bellars, also called Hackabout-Jones, Mrs. Erica has fill'd a most lamentable Gap left by these Liter'ry Gentlemen and duly noted by many an English Major of the Female Sex….

Bawdy she may be (by which liter'ry Term we Moderns mean to signify dirty in the extream, but of a classick Style, so 'tis properly acceptable to Persons of high Taste) but she hath also, in abundance, Passion for her Babe, her Good Friends of both Sexes, for the poetic tongue; she hath a prodigious amount of Thought on the Lot of the Fair Sex and of the Black Man and Woman, much Curiosity about the World, and a most commendable striving for Good.

She also hath this funny Way with Words that can drive the faithful Reader nuts in the extream, but 'tis a pleasant Prose when once the Reader hath accustom'd herself to't. Mrs. Erica hath employ'd a Style, neither 18th Century nor our 20th, that conveyeth the Spirit but doth not confuseth the Mind. Be you duly warn'd however, that it leaveth a peculiar staccato Sense in the Tongue that maketh the Nouns leap out with Abandon….

'Twill be a Surprize, no doubt, to the gentle Readers who know Mrs. Erica from the work she hath giv'n us before, such as Fear of Flying, that her Talent to paint a Scene is no less apparent on a Pyrate Ship than Airplane or Train.

But 'tis a true Heroine she hath made this Time, no mean and modern Creature whose search for Happiness is confin'd to her own Personage and certain of its Parts.

In the Age of Reason, i'faith, 'twas much more the Custom for Persons of Intellect to savor the World in all its Richness, taking both Good and Evil as they come, than to ply the Straits of Self Analysis. Mrs. Fanny, who useth her Reason as well as her Rump, is a most refreshing Delight.