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Eat, Pray, Love |  | Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Publisher: Penguin
Category: eBooks
This item is no longer available
Rating:  2228 reviews
Sales Rank: 7
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 910.4
ASIN: B000PDYVVG
Publication Date: February 1, 2007
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Product Description
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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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 2228
 A lovely, lovely find... October 12, 2006
K. Walters (Washington, DC USA)
146 out of 184 found this review helpful
I heard this book discussed briefly earlier this year on the Today Show and decided to order it since, at the time, I was in the throws of my own divorce. Ms. Gilbert chronicles her international journey of self-discovery with such amazing detail and tenderness and humor that I recommend this book to anyone who has found him or herself in a place or state that he or she would like to change or leave (I imagine, that's everyone!). The story is engrossing and the writing is skillful. I couldn't put it down, and I feel more empowered to follow my own dreams and heart after finishing the book. That's 5-star material if I've ever seen it.
Even in my underpants I can feel it May 19, 2008
kaioatey (Awatovi, AZ)
41 out of 51 found this review helpful
Liz Gilbert almost got me. As she starts her Italian adventure I was preparing myself for a pulpy read with easy (and possibly undeserved) laughs. And before that, the Amazon reviews almost scared me away. Boy, what a mistake that'd be! This is a spiritual book in the true sense of the word. Although I kept laughing throughout the book, its simplicity is deceptive. Between the lines, Gilbert is about so much more: vitality, coming into one's own, creating reality and matching the soul's aspirations to the delicious unpredictability of life.
After divorcing her husband (who is portrayed rather unflatteringly as a greedy and vindictive sob) the author decamps for the fountains of Rome where she makes great friends, samples excellent food and learns about the pleasure of dolce far niente from the world's masters in this important art. Here is a quote from Liz's book on why Italy, which has produced some of the greatest artistic, political and scientific minds of all ages, has never become a major world power: The Italian history of corruption by local leaders (a la Mussolini and Berlusconi) and exploitation by foreign dominators [France, Austria, Spain etc]
"has led Italians to draw the seemingly accurate conclusion that nobody and nothing in this world can be trusted. Because the world is so corrupted and unfair, one should trust only what one can experience with one's one senses, and THIS makes senses stronger in Italy than anywhere in Europe. This is why Italians will tolerate hideously incompetent generals, presidents, tyrants, professors, journalists and captains of industry but will never tolerate incompetent opera singers, conductors, ballerinas, courtesans, actors, cooks and tailors. Sometimes only beauty can be trusted. Only artistic excellence is incorruptible. Pleasure cannot be bargained down. And sometimes the meal is the only currency that is real."
This book is essentially revolving about beauty - of friendship, inner life, good taste (and food) and, not least, the ever elusive bounty that is bestowed by a life that is lived well.
In India Liz stays in a celebrity ashram north of Bombay where she has a couple of transcendent experiences whereas in Bali she befriends locals in the beautiful town of Ubud. In fact, her capacity for friendship - the genius of it - together with the honest and unflinching ability to face herself is something that I found very cool. So what if she has bad taste when it comes to men? To me, her naivete in all things male is simply a (n attractive) measure of her femininity and humanness. In any case, Liz's description of finding her inner strength is better than those of most self-styled guru and self-help "authority" out there, including by the controversial Gurumayi herself.
As I started to write my review in here i was kinda surprised (actually i wasn;t surprised at all) how violently some people react to the book. There is some real vitriol here, doubtlessly reflecting the (very real) American horror of idleness and pleasure, of decoupling from the "productive" life of the hive. There seem to be many, oh so many, envious and unfulfilled divorcees out there. To me it seems that many reviewers can't decide whether they are more insulted by Liz's snub of Puritan ethics or her hedonic streak, glamor (the bit of it that seeps between the lines) and courage to end a suffocating marriage. I imagine the very idea of spending a year "finding oneself" is anathema to the hard working hoi polloi. Yet - what else matters in this vale of tears?
A second set of reviewers is responding with a weary "been there done that" (lived amongst the Afghans and the Okies, spent time in ashrams, etc, haha) - never realizing that is the *spirit* of the author, her natural inclination to befriend her fellow humans and not to be better than they are, that represents a main draw of the book.
Is it true that one can live one's life in an ever expanding circle of vitality and joy? Liz Gilbert gives us a resounding YES. So what if she was paid to write about herself - this is what travel writers do for living. Having had my share of humbling and uplifting experiences I know for sure that she is not faking anything - her spiritual insights are the real deal. In my mind, she provides us with a XXI century (US) version of Lawrence Durrell's travelogues - only more light-hearted, self-deprecating and courageous. Bravissima!
Delightful February 1, 2009
Stephanie Bauer
30 out of 39 found this review helpful
A delightful book, entertaining and full of wisdom. The author takes us along on her year-long journey to find her true self. Her account feels honest and yet has a lot of humor. Sprinkled in is interesting information about the countries she is visiting which I enjoyed as well.
Another book I enjoyed reading is Working on Yourself Doesn't Work: The 3 Simple Ideas That Will Instantaneously Transform Your Life by Ariel and Shya Kane. It offers surprisingly simple ideas for everyday enlightenment.
Both books are fun to read and I found them very inspirational!
Smile, Laugh, Cry...A MUST READ February 20, 2006
Venetia Moon (USA)
19 out of 24 found this review helpful
This book (somehow memoir doesn't seem to do justice to what Gilbert has produced) will make you silent in realizing profound and great wisdom before making you blurt sudden laughter upon reading the very next page. Everything that a full human life has...it is all here: the rough, tough, and heart-breaking mixed alongside the soaring, transcending heights of joy and love. But it isn't merely a neat packaging of a complex life that will make you feel privileged to witness. This book is a gift calling you to actively seek out a fuller life for your own self--not in some self-help way--but by offering keys to (often subtle) realizations about what your own life is and could be. It is Gilbert's telling of her journey with such open truth and unfailing sincerity that calls you to look with clarity at yourself and not just be a bystander to her or your own life. Because Gilbert shares so deeply, it is a book that you will read and then instantly share with another.
IN SHORT: In this poignant account of one woman's journey, you ultimately feel connected not only to the people that populate the pages, but also to the larger workings of your own life and the universe.
kept me laughing & left me inspired April 11, 2008
K. Betcher (Chicago, IL)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I absolutely love this book & had so much fun reading it. Liz Gilbert's writing is so charming & entertaining. I loved the honesty about her personal life & all her little neurosis. And as much as the book made me laugh, it also gave me some real little nuggets of wisdom along the way. Her adventures reminded me why I love to travel & inspired me to get out there & embrace the free spirit that lives inside me.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 2228
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