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The book arrived early and was in satisfactory condition, as expected. Except for the author going on too long about her research on various topics, I found the book to be interesting, entertaining, and very funny. The authors use of "big words" was kind of annoying because people typically don't use them in every day conversation. I got tired of looking them up in the dictionary. However as a fellow writer, I do admire her extensive vocabulary, and I'm a little jealous. I love Liz's personality and her boldness and talent as a writer and a speaker. I loved the 3 non-fiction books I've read by her so far.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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.[Read full review
Gilbert's book is an honest, humorous exploration of who she is, what she wants, and what she needs. The beginning is tough to get through. Without having established sympathy from her audience, she dredges us through her darkest hour. I persevered through this, only because I lead a book club that had selected the book. After forcing myself to continue, got hooked in her Italian adventure. It was at this time that she shared enough of her background to evoke my sympathy and empathy - she became human, rather than a caricature of the sad little rich girl. I loved her time in India, even if I'm a bit incredulous. I gradually became discontented toward the end of the book. Perhaps this reflects the author's confusion about her time in Indonesia. Perhaps it's that I wanted her to make different choices. Regardless, it's harder to criticize someone's life experience than the plot of a nocel. I'm glad that I read it, if for nothing more than the cultural context. I'm sure lots of people will continue to discuss this book, and at least I can be an informed participant.Read full review
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.Read full review
Even though Ms. Gilbert is relatively young, she has packed a lot of experience into her years. She has a good sense of humor, and has a great ability to poke fun at herself. She also had the courage to travel alone to distant places in the search of truth and pleasure. As someone interested in all aspects of meditation, I enjoyed her experiences during several months in an Indian ashram. She traveled to some pretty high levels of consciousness, and demonstrated good knowledge on the subject. She also traveled to Rome and to Bali, and her experiences there were also fun to read. I recommend this book as both entertaining and thoughtful.
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