Jong began this book as a guide for aspiring writers. It was to be a book full of practical advice, inspiring examples, and sage wisdom--but she quickly realized that writing such a book would be dishonest, a way to veil the difficult nature of the writer's life with platitudes and encouragement. A demon out of an Isaac Singer story whispered in Jong's ear: "Tell the truth!" She knew she had no choice but to obey. Jong tells us she writes "to get my life down on paper so it can never be extinguished," and "to keep from going mad." This, then, is the sublime and salacious story of one writer's long and successful career as a poet, novelist, and feminist provocateur. Equally candid about the privileges of fame and the slaps of notoriety, Jong is above all loyal to the importance of telling the truth in an age of lies.