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Reviews:
NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
“If a more likable writer than
Gilbert is currently in print, I haven't found him or
her...Gilbert's prose is fueled by a mix of intelligence, wit
and colloquial exuberance that is close to irresistible, and
makes the reader only too glad to join the posse of friends and
devotees who have the pleasure of listening in.” by
Jennifer Egan
TIME MAGAZINE
“An
engaging, intelligent and entertaining memoir…her account of her
time in India is beautiful and honest and free of
patchouli-scented obscurities.” by
Lev Grossman
LOS ANGELES TIMES
“Gilbert’s journey is full of mystical dreams, visions and
uncanny coincidences…Yet for every ounce of self-absorption her
classical New-Age journey demands, Gilbert is ready with an
equal measure of intelligence, humor and
self-deprecation…Gilbert’s wry, unfettered account of her
extraordinary journey makes even the most cynical reader dare to
dream of someday finding God deep within a meditation cave in
India, or perhaps over a transcendent slice of pizza.”
by Erika Schickel
SEATTLE POST-Intelligencer
"This is an
intriguing and substantive journey recounted with verve, humor
and insight. Others have preceded Gilbert in writing this sort
of memoir, but few indeed have done it better." by
John Marshall
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
“Fine, sometimes startling…Gilbert doesn’t wear spirituality
like a fresh frock she hopes will make her pretty, but nurtures
the spiritual seed within herself to find the beauty and love in
everything.” by Sarah Peasley
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
"A"
- "This insightful, funny account of her travels reads like a
mix of Susan Orlean and Frances Mayes...Gilbert's journey is
well worth taking." by Jessica Shaw
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
 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."
Publishers Weekly (Starred
Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
LIBRARYJOURNAL.com
A Starred Review.
"A probing, thoughtful title with a
free and easy style, this work seamlessly blends history and
travel for a very enjoyable read. Highly recommended."
by Jo-Anne Mary Benson
BOOKLIST
A Starred Review.
"Gilbert, author of The Last American Man (2002) and a
well-traveled I'll-try-anything-once journalist, chronicles her
intrepid quest for spiritual healing. Driven to despair by a
punishing divorce and an anguished love affair, Gilbert flees
New York for sojourns in the three Is. She goes to Italy to
learn the language and revel in the cuisine, India to meditate
in an ashram, and Indonesia to reconnect with a healer in Bali.
This itinerary may sound self-indulgent or fey, but there is
never a whiny or pious or dull moment because Gilbert is
irreverent, hilarious, zestful, courageous, intelligent, and in
masterful command of her sparkling prose. A captivating
storyteller with a gift for enlivening metaphors, Gilbert is
Anne Lamott's hip, yoga-practicing, footloose younger sister,
and readers will laugh and cry as she recounts her nervy and
outlandish experiences and profiles the extraordinary people she
meets. As Gilbert switches from gelato to kundalini Shakti to
herbal cures Balinese-style, she ponders the many paths to
divinity, the true nature of happiness, and the boon of
good-hearted, sexy love. Gilbert's sensuous and audacious
spiritual odyssey is as deeply pleasurable as it is
enlightening." by Donna Seaman
Alan Richman's take on "Eat, Pray, Love"
"Spilling out of this funny (and
profound) circus car of a book are dozens of mesmerizing
characters, people you'll envy Liz Gilbert for finding,
valuing, loving and, I couldn't help noticing, joining for
irresistible meals. I've never read an adventure quite like
one, where a writer packs up her entire life and takes it on
the road." --
Alan Richman.
Anne Lamott on "Eat, Pray, Love"
"This is a wonderful book,
brilliant and personal, rich in spiritual insight, filled with
sorrow and a great sense of humor. Elizabeth Gilbert is
everything you would love in a tour guide, of magical places she
has traveled to both deep inside and across the oceans: she's
wise, jaunty, human, ethereal, hilarious, heartbreaking, and
God, does she pay great attention to the things that really
matter." --
Anne Lamott
Jack Kornfield says about "Eat, Pray, Love"
"Elizabeth Gilbert takes us on
pilgrimage, with the humor, insight and charm that only come
with honest self-revelation and good writing." --
Jack Kornfield |
