'Eat, Pray, Love' by Elizabeth Gilbert - Book Review

Elizabeth Gilbert's talent as a writer is evident in Eat, Pray, Love. She took a story and subject that could easily seem self-indulgent and told it with such humor and wit that readers around the world have not been able to put the book down. I picked up Eat, Pray, Love as a skeptic, but read it through in just a few days.

I must admit up front that I read Eat, Pray, Love a couple years after it was released. I read it long after Oprah endorsed it, and I read it reluctantly, thinking that it would be whiny or preachy or prescriptive, and almost certain I would not like it. Within the first few chapters, however, I understood why the memoir has been a bestseller for so long.

I like how Elizabeth Gilbert organized Eat, Pray, Love into 108 short chapters. She is good at writing little stories, giving us glimpses of her one year journey to Italy, India and Indonesia through two to five page anecdotes. This style keeps the book from degenerating into long self-analysis and makes it very easy to read.

Each section of Eat, Pray, Love claims to highlight one of Gilbert's pursuits: pleasure in Italy, devotion in India, and balance in Indonesia. Although the India section particularly focuses on Gilbert's pursuit of spiritual enlightenment, the whole book could easily be labeled a spiritual memoir. I knew from the start that I would probably disagree with some of Gilbert's spiritual conclusions; however, she writes her story with such sincerity and humor that I still found it a very enjoyable read.

That being said, I've read reviews and seen women on TV who follow Gilbert as if she's their Guru and treat Eat, Pray, Love almost as if it is a holy book. While I thought Eat, Pray, Love was a good read, I also thought Gilbert's "insights" were often simplistic and would not recommend this book to those looking for self-help. It's a good choice to throw in your beach bag, but don't expect it to change your life.