Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

I find it utterly confounding that so many reviewers had a problem with this book. Many see the author as vapid and selfish but that is the point of the book! I believe that many reviewers have problems with trying to digest this book as something religious or full of spiritual enlightenment.

Gilbert is highly admirable in her "glorious" selfishness, horniness, eagerness to experience life sans the day-to-day blahs. The reviewers who find this dissatisfying may themselves be encumbered in kids, work, chores, husbands, etc. But Gilbert bucks the picket fence trend and decides that this is not her destiny; she seizes the opportunity to challenge herself to create a European identity void of all the traditional architecture of the American woman-guilt, compromise, sacrifice, lack of whimsy and emptied feelings of beauty and desire.

If you look closely this book is vaguely a slice of a "Sex and the City" episode...a Samantha-of-sorts, Gilbert gives her lackluster life lots of polish in this frank and funny tribute to female rogues everywhere.

I read the first "section" of the book and it was just okay. Maybe because I've been to Italy and knew the places she spoke of, etc. The second section bored me and I didn't even bother to finish the book. It constantly felt like Gilbert was bragging, blah blah blah I left my husband but it's okay b/c I have wealthy publishers to finance a trip around the world for me, and so on. I can't connect with that. Don't waste your time or money.

This book really helped me get through a bad divorce. It helped me move on a realize that I'm better off now and that the world's not over :).

Oh God, based on the popularity of this book and recccommendations from female friedns, I sat down to read this book....I gave up after the first 35 pages this summer. Tried to resume this winter and I give up yet again......the author just goes yakitty yak, it's all talk, like she's holding a microphone to her mind and transcribing her scattered thoughts. Nothing in it for me in this book, sorry :(
its not a comedy or a tragedy or a travelogue or a spiritual of a romantic book....it's just endless rambling.

I did not have any troubles finishing this book, although the Italian trip was the best part for me. I admire the author's ability to write about her "overactive" mind with such candor but sometimes there is too much detail. I liked the historical/geographical/yoga details in the book and the fact that she met and interacted with a lot of interesting people, although her story seemed too self-centered here and there. It was an acceptable reading overall but I think with some editing it could have been much better.