Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert (2007, Paperback, Reprint)

The Entertainment Critic Book Review, By James Myers
EAT, PRAY, LOVE
ONE WOMAN’S SEARCH FOR EVERYTHING ACROSS ITALY,
INDIA AND INDONESIA
By Elizabeth Gilbert
Published by Penguin Books
352 Pages
ISBN 978-0-14-303841-2(pbk)
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER
#1 ON THE NYT PAPERBACK NONFICTION LIST 5/13/2007
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION ACCLAIMED BEST SELLER
#1 ON THE BOOKSENSE PAPERBACK NONFICTION LIST 5/13/2007
ONE OF ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’S TOP 10 NONFICTION BOOKS OF
THE YEAR
THE MOVIE RIGHT TO THIS BOOK HAVE BEEN SOLD TO PARAMOUNT WITH JULIA ROBERTS ATTACHED
Four Star Rating****


“I seriously believed that David was my soul mate.”

“He probably was. Your problem is that you don’t understand what that word means. People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change you like. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you will ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. And thank God for it. Your problem is, you just can’t let this one go. It’s over, Groceries. David’s purpose was to shake you up, drive you out of that marriage that you needed to leave, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so a new light could get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you had to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master and beat it. …Listen, you’re a powerful woman and you’re used to getting what you want out of life, and you didn’t get what you wanted in your last few relationships, and it’s got you all jammed up. Your husband didn’t behave the way you wanted him to and David didn’t either. Life did not go your way for once. And nothing pisses off a control freak more than life not goin’ her way.”


In her 30’s, Elizabeth Gilbert, seemed to have everything the modern American woman is supposed to possess. She had a good husband, beautiful home, a successful career as a writer, and public recognition. She was supposed to be happy. But instead, she was consumed by pain, doubt, and confusion. Without warning her life began to change. Her husband divorced her. Her new boyfriend left her. Her fortune and homes were largely consumed in a very messy, prolonged divorce. Elizabeth chose to travel to Italy, India and Bali, not only in a search for culture, but also a journey of self-discovery. She recounts her journey in three parts, each told in 36 segments to match the pattern of her 108 beads on her japa mala, a traditional Indian prayer necklace.

Following her divorce and overwhelming depression, she examines three different aspects of her nature, in three different cultures: pleasure in Italy (eating enough to gain, “the happiest 23 pounds of her life”, learning Italian and practicing bel far niente, “the beauty of doing nothing”), devotion in India (here she spend 4 months in an ashram engaged in a rigorous practice of meditation, yoga, and manual labor), and a balance of both in Bali(here she meets an elderly medicine man, a female healer, and unexpectedly falls in love). "I wanted to explore one aspect of

Eat, Pray, Love is a true story about a woman’s journey to Italy, India, and Indochina after a nasty divorce and near nervous breakdown in search of healing and spirituality. She travels to Italy for pleasure, India, for spirituality, and Indonesia for balance and finances her yearlong trip by writing a book about it.

This book touched me. The writing style is very friendly and upbeat. You feel like you are listening to your best friend. The first section was the best. First, you experience Liz’s agony as she is shattered by a torturous divorce and failed love affair. Then comes Italy, a totally fascinating, sensuous place with the most delicious food in the world. Liz starts to relax and heal. Second, in India, you observe her quest for spirituality. Last, she goes to Indonesia also known as Bali to find balance and reunite with an old medicine man she met earlier.

Simply put, this novel is all about Liz and her feelings and experiences interspersed with some philosophy and history. Anyone who has experienced great pain in their life and hungers for spirituality will enjoy this book. It will give you hope that you can make a better life for yourself. Do you really need to go to Italy, India, or Indonesia to accomplish all those things? Probably not, but it would be a fascinating experience.

Jennifer Egan of The New York Times described Gilbert's prose as "fueled by a mix of intelligence, wit and colloquial exuberance that is close to irresistible", but later stated that the novel "drags" in the middle. She continued in stating that she was more interested in "the awkward, unresolved stuff she must have chosen to leave out," noting that Gilbert omits the "confusion and unfinished business of real life," and that "we know how the story ends pretty much from the beginning."

Oprah Winfrey enjoyed the book, and devoted two episodes of The Oprah Winfrey Show to the book.

Maureen Callahan of the New York Post disliked the book because of its spiritual themes, especially its focus on Eastern religion. She heavily criticized the book, calling it "narcissistic New Age reading," and "the worst in Western fetishization of Eastern thought and culture, assured in its answers to existential dilemmas that have confounded intellects greater than hers." In addition, she was critical of Oprah's focus on the book, as well as Oprah's fans who enjoy the book, asking why her fans are "indulging in this silliness," and why they aren't "clamoring for more weight when it comes to Oprah's female authors."

Katie Rophie of Slate magazine agreed with Egan about the strength of Gilbert's writing. However, she described the journey as too fake: "too willed, too self-conscious". She stated that despite the apparent artificiality of the journey, her "affection for Eat, Pray, Love is ... furtive", and that "it is a transcendently great beach book." The Washington Post's Grace Lichtenstein stated that "The only thing wrong with this readable, funny memoir of a magazine writer's yearlong travels across the world in search of pleasure and balance is that it seems so much like a Jennifer Aniston movie."

Lev Grossman of Time magazine, however, praised the spiritual aspect of the book, stating that "To read about her struggles with a 182-verse Sanskrit chant, or her (successful) attempt to meditate while being feasted on by mosquitoes, is to come about as close as you can to enlightenment-by-proxy." He did, however, agree with Rophie that her writing occasionally seems to be "trying too hard to be liked; one feels the belabored mechanism of her jokes."

Lori Leibovich of Salon.com agreed with several other reviewers about the strength of Gilbert's story telling. She agreed with Egan as well that Gilbert seems to have an unlimited amount of luck, saying "her good fortune seems limitless", and asking "Is it possible for one person to be this lucky?"

Entertainment Weekly's Jessica Shaw said that "Despite a few cringe-worthy turns ... Gilbert's journey is well worth taking." Don Lattin of the San Francisco Chronicle agreed with Egan that the story was weakest while she was in India, and questioned the complete veracity of the book. Barbara Fisher of The Boston Globe also praised Gilbert's writing, stating that "she describes with intense visual, palpable detail. She is the epic poet of ecstasy."[11]

Metacritic reports a 77% favorable rating, based on 12 reviews.[

This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali. By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklist calls “Anne Lamott’s hip, yoga- practicing, footloose younger sister”) is poised to garner yet more adoring fans.

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This was an excellent read. I love a book that draws you in, so that you feel you are having the adventure right along with the author. Eat, Love, Pray draws you right into her life and you see and feel what she does, whether you are going through the same kind of crisis she is or not. Parts of it will be life changing for you... if you allow it. My daughter shared it with me, so I had to search for it and found myself a nice paperback copy on ebay. It is a book with a little something for almost every woman who is at a crossroads in her life, whether it be physical or spiritual.