Eat Pray Love

by: Elizabeth Gilbert

Gilbert (The Last American Man) grafts the structure of romantic fiction upon the inquiries of reporting in this sprawling yet methodical travelogue of soul-searching and self-discovery. Plagued with despair after a nasty divorce, the author, in her early 30s, divides a year equally among three dissimilar countries, exploring her competing urges for earthly delights and divine transcendence. First, pleasure: savoring Italy’s buffet of delights–the world’s best pizza, free-flowing wine and dashing conversation partners–Gilbert consumes la dolce vita as spiritual succor. “I came to Italy pinched and thin,” she writes, but soon fills out in waist and soul. Then, prayer and ascetic rigor: seeking communion with the divine at a sacred ashram in India, Gilbert emulates the ways of yogis in grueling hours of meditation, struggling to still her churning mind. Finally, a balancing act in Bali, where Gilbert tries for equipoise “betwixt and between” realms, studies with a merry medicine man and plunges into a charged love affair. Sustaining a chatty, conspiratorial tone, Gilbert fully engages readers in the year’s cultural and emotional tapestry–conveying rapture with infectious brio, recalling anguish with touching candor–as she details her exotic tableau with history, anecdote and impression.

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Review 

With this memoir of her journey, Gilbert makes her personal experiences accessible to many. I felt as though I was there with her without feeling pity for her or like I was reading a sob story. Her writing is smart and quick-moving. She paid great attention to detail but still managed to wrap everything up into itself by the end. Her travels through Italy, India, and Indonesia paint a vivid picture of the landscapes and cultures without being overly encompassing or vague. Of course she eats the pasta in Italy, but her description of it makes you feel you’re there in a specific restaurant and can taste the difference in that family recipe. In my turn of the last page, I felt as though the story ended too soon, but I had to remind myself that the focus of the book is on her journey of self-discovery and not the grace that occur once she has reached her milestone of self-acceptance. Overall, definitely a book I would recommend but certainly with reservation – reservation not for of the quality of the book but for the reader. To truly appreciate Eat Play Love, one must have an open mind and understand or have gone through a similar journey. It’s one of those books that makes you feel a part of the universe rather than fighting against it. Definitely a good nightstand book.