Eat, Pray, Love 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

I ordered the book 6 weeks ago. NEVER RECEIVED IT. So I can't really tell you anything about the book. I got charged for the book and I had sent several emails threw Ebay letting the seller know that I never received the book, but I never got a response back from the seller or Ebay. I'm very disapointed with this transaction. I will have to think twice before I order from this seller or ebay again.

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 book was recommended to me by a classmate of mine. I was going through some changes and the way Elizabeth Gilbert faced her challenges made mine easier.

I LOVED this book. I felt like I knew the author as a friend, by the end of the book. Gilbert's writing was captivating and her raw feelings and emotions were easy to relate to. I loved this book so much that as soon as I finished it, I started reading it again. I also purchased another one for a friend. It's a difficult book to put down once you start it.

Maybe I just went thru life's lessons at a much earlier age than the author, but I just wanted to slap her silly and yell at the top of my lungs "Grow UP"! For someone who has so many advantages in her life (that most women do not and will never have) she comes across as a whiney self indulgent brat. To have the opportunity to make a trip to Italy alone would thrill most everyone but to summarily dismiss what may have been a trancendent experience to have sex with all Italian men simply because she is so self-pitying, I can only say "What a waste". Ms Gilbert has the sole distinction of being the only author I have ever read that made me decide I did not have the time to waste in my busy life to finish reading her book.

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.

I loved this book. My mom gave me a copy and about 20 pages in, I hopped on EBAY to order copies for all of my girl friends. Its an easy and entertaining summer read and I think every woman can relate to the emotions and feelings Liz expressed in the book.

I have wanted this book for quite some time. Finding at such a great price I expected the book to be some what used, at the least. But, my book was in excellent condition. Looked brand new!! I also didn't expect to receive my book so quickly but it took no time to get to my house! Very happy with my purchase. Thank you!!

Liz Gilbert is inspiring, and she gets you thinking about ways you can look within yourself and be less self-destructive. It was a refreshing look into one woman's journey to find herself.

i quit reading it when i saw that she wasnt a Christian only because i am a new Christian and didnt want the book to influence my beliefs. I was very disappointed I was only on chapter 2 i think.

For me, this is one of those books I won't give away. When my friend told me she emersed herself in the book I wondered what she was talking about. Now I know. I have underlined sayings, ones I want to return to. Beautifully written, this one is a winner.

Like the book thus far. It was shipped in a timely manner and came like new. I reada review on the book and decided to purchase it.

item came in a timely matter and in good shape. I was curious about the book and wanted to read it.

The book came in quickly. However, the book was not in very good condition. It was underlined and marked up.

I think this is probably the worst book I have ever read in my life. I browsed through it at the bookstore at the recommendation of someone and didn't want to buy it, but thought maybe I'd give it a try to give this person honest feedback. So I found and purchased it for just below cover price on ebay. I can't even bring myself to talk to this person, I feel I will never trust their opinion on anything else ever again. This is absolutely the worst writing ever. Horrible, horrible writing. She is constantly using parenthesis to explain herself, good writers don't need to do this every few sentences. She stops, if you can say stop because there is no flow to her writing, and says things like "let me explain something first" and "if you must know" and goes on about how she doesn't have time here to explain something, but why even bring it up at all? You sure do have the time to tell us you're not going to tell us.

Besides the bad writing she tries to describe things and people and make herself sound really hip but she comes off as a lame, pampered, yuppie girl who doesn't know what's cool besides what the media and her lame brain has told her is cool. She also shows us through her lameness that she's never had any real life experience so she had to go off and do some cool things and meet some cool people in order for her ego to feel credible and justified. She is SO whiney. "oh, cry cry, I'm so broke, by husband won't let me sell our mansion in Manhattan so I have to rent an apartment on the upper eastside" or some other such drivel I just really don't feel like having to suffer through the book again to get those facts completely straight.

This whole book is supposed to be about how enlightened she has become yet even at the end through her bad writing she displays how unenlightened, snobby and elitist she still is. There is a part where she is with the medicine lady and someone comes in asking for help for their "god awful constipation" and the author writes: "I was thinking, Sing it a little louder, honey, and we can all dance to it..." You're the lame, rich, healthy, my-poor-suffering-soul whiney white lady sitting all day with the medicine woman in Bali, and you're complaining about hearing people with real physical ailments coming in for help? Guess traveling for enlightenment doesn't teach tact, class, or compassion.

Eww. This book was so lame I can't even pass it off to someone for fear they'll actually read it. I only forced and struggled my way through it to make sure I would find nothing redeeming so I could absolutely bash it to the person that recommended it to me. Richard, the character from Texas, says a few interesting things that she captured alright, but that's about it. Do not waste your money on this piece of junk. And if you find it for free pass it up anyway, please don't waste your time and energy on this.

Its been a long time since I have read a book that is this great. A MUST have for anyone.... especially women!

I simply did not like the book. I thought it was slow. It had a slow beginning, but I thought that it would atleast pick up in the middle, but it was barely holding my attention. I would not recommend it if you are someone who has a busy schedule and likes faster paced books.

Heard many good things about the book, and they are all true! Author turns mirror on her own life...and helps US look at our own at the same time. Had someone told me some of what she discovers YEARS ago, how my life might have turned out very differently! I am making my own teen daughter AND son read this, before they start trying to live a life everyone else will think they should live!

I brought this book for my mum as she had heard how great it is and she would recommended it to everyone it's a great read and a great add on to her collection
Give it a try!

I was given this book for Christmas this year. To be honest, I didn't know very much about it at the time. The three places that Elizabeth visits, Italy, India and Indonesia all have special meaning to me. What I love about this book is that the author goes through a very normal, very common situation; the breakup of her marriage. Leaving a marriage is tough enough, looking inside one's self to repair the damage and seek out the bigger reasons is huge. I loved her voice, it was honest and self-deprecating in a way you can only appreciate if you understand all that she is going through or all that she is trying to learn about herself. Her voice is funny. I found pieces of her personality in mine (voices in my head that are type "a" and just won't quiet down".) She seeks enlightenment in her life and doesn't make you think that for a single moment that is anything less than an arduous task. I was relieved to read that at times she had no idea what she was supposed to be experiencing.

All in all, I loved this book, I loved her journey and I loved her honesty. I think there is a little Liz in all of us. Now if I could only afford to take a journey like that on my own without working for months, that would be something.

There was a point in this book where I got to the end of a chapter and just sighed. Then I immediately went on line to purchase it for one of my friends.

It is a great book, a well written story and a voice that sounds a little like the one in my own head.

I hadn't laughed this hard for ages, the good silly laughing, till years run down your cheeks~! And the good humor helps digest the soul searching and provocative introspection; most of us have been through most of these life changing incidents. It does inspire one to search for the best life we can live, and good ideas on how to re-design what we should change for the better. Well worth the effort, and much deserving of the rave reviews~!

Got this for a book club read and we all loved it. I enjoyed the author's wit while exploring the deeper side of life. Although this is more of a women's book, men will get a lot out of it as well.