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| Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia | 
 enlarge | Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Publisher: Large Print Distribution
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $3.82
You Save: $11.13 (74%)
New (25) Used (15) from $3.82
Avg. Customer Rating:  1758 reviews
Sales Rank: 580620
Format: Large Print
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 633
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.4
ISBN: 1594132666
Dewey Decimal Number: 910.4092
EAN: 9781594132667
ASIN: 1594132666
Publication Date: October 26, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: minor edge and corner wear. Acceptable, shows wear, markings and or highlighting
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| Customer Reviews:
 A vapid manifesto of self-absorption and delusion. October 30, 2007
59 out of 67 found this review helpful
This book, with its nauseating and saccharine appeals to selfishness and narcissism (both cloaked deceptively as the new age ideal of transcendence) captures every last aspect of a repugnant trend in America in which we refuse to grow up. It is the worst kind of intellectual pornography, the kind which affirms us in the delusion that we can always be seven years old, the kind which tries to elevate triviality and carelessness to a status of respectability. It is the kind of debased behavior which the cows at organic farm of Philip Roth's "The Human Stain" are meant to symbolize.
The book, by itself, is not particularly disturbing. The popularity of the book is deeply troubling, however, and I would highly recommend Robert Bly's "The Sibling Society" as a much needed antidote.
 Disturbing March 5, 2006
56 out of 87 found this review helpful
I would rate this book two stars or less, except for the fact that Gilbert can indeed write. The problem is she's a shallow twit, and what she thinks passes as wisdom earned along her journey is complete twaddle, except that a good meal, good sex and a little peace and quiet can calm the soul. The book reeks with personal details, a level of self conscious confession that sounds more like a narrative from "Sex and the City." I hope she feels better after dumping this stuff on us page after page. As a reader, I couldn't thumb through it fast enough.
I found myself growing impatient with her immaturity, and a kind of arrogance that keeps people like her flitting through a spiritual walk, one that is all about what she can get out of it, particularly the need to feel special. Mid-way, I found myself unable to trust her judgement or her journey, so in the end, I found her story more disturbing than inspiring. I thought I was buying a travel book with some interesting insights into these locales. Instead, it really turned out to be a sort of New Age Harlequin romance. Yuck.
 No Nirvana Will Be Found Here. September 25, 2007
56 out of 67 found this review helpful
I thought this was a memoir? It often came across as shallow narcissism to the point of wondering if it was fiction? Despite, the fine descriptions & a bit of wit. The author was clearly basting herself in a bath of self pity. All three parts seemed like an extended escape from her chaotic life back in the USA., where she went through a divorce. In brief, she needed to find herself & wanted to feel special. She ate well in Italy, practiced meditation in India, & in Indonesia tried to balance herself between selfindulgence & seeking Nirvana through more meditation. She clearly is unhappy & probably needs something other than her anti-depressants to help herself? I give it three stars because, it was a short descriptive read. But, in conclusion this was far more sad than inspirational.
Glib, narcissistic and lightweight May 14, 2007
46 out of 53 found this review helpful
I picked up this book on the strength of good reviews and found myself wanting to throw it at the wall. The author is a fine writer with a good sense of humor who seemed to want to write about her journey to self fullfilment, spiritual awakening and happiness. Instead she came off as a priviledged, slightly spoiled writer who needed an excuse for a writers advance so she could travel for free. She reveals herself to be a spiritual narcissist who obsessively navel gazes. While many passages are light hearted and funny and she is oh, so very clever and witty!! there was no real depth, no real meaningful questions asked or answered except for how she could get more breaks and be FULFILLED. It seemed like an extended article for SELF magazine. Instead order books by Kathleen Norris or even Anne LaMott for God's sake!
There was a lot of potential.... August 18, 2006
45 out of 56 found this review helpful
I picked up this book after rave reviews from a book club and for the first half of it I could not figure out why they liked it so much. I felt the author came through as extremely immature and somewhat shallow- I found the section on Italy read a lot like the diary of a girl who just graduated from high school going to see Italy before she went off to college. Oooh, cute boys, drinking wine, do you think that cute boy thinks I'm cute?However, there were some really lyrical and amazing passages sprinkled in with this so I kept on reading. You could really see how she developed as a person as she went through India and on to Bali. Her account of the ashram and how it changed her was interesting, I could totally sympathize with her difficulties getting her mind to shut up during meditation! While it was somewhat enjoyable to see that progression I didn't find her interesting enough to keep me enthralled with the book.
And she really did give short shrift to places she had been. I know this book was not supposed to be a travel guide but more of her personal journey but as someone who has been to both Italy and Bali (funny enough I was there in Ubud the same time she was!) I don't think she did any justice to the beauty and magnificence of either of these places which is what I found most disapointing. To only concentrate on the food in Italy is such a pity considering the beautiful architecture, and to not talk about Balinese food more...I just felt there was so much more to be conveyed! It really was like reading a 20 something's diary and as I've often felt when I have looked back on my own journal entries, they aren't all that interesting to people other than you. There were a few sections that really grabbed me so overall it was a worthwhile read but not a strong recommendation.
One last thing I would like to mention in response to the person who didn't like the political references, I actually felt she really downplayed the prevalance of these discussions. As soon as anyone, fellow travelers and locals alike found out we (my travel buddy and I) were Americans, ALL they wanted to talk about was the election and the war. It was really exhausting after a while.
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