1638 reviews
Sales Rank: 7

Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352

Dewey Decimal Number: 910.4
ASIN: B000PDYVVG

Publication Date: April 11, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali. By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklist calls "Anne Lamott's hip, yoga-practicing, footloose younger sister") is poised to garner yet more adoring fans.

Customer Reviews: Read 1633 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Couldn't put it down! September 5, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful

I was shocked when I logged on to Amazon and saw so many snarky, bitter reviews; I expected this book to have a solid five star rating. I do a lot of reading and it not every day that I find a book so engrossing, so honest, so profound, and so funny that I clear my schedule in order to plow through it. To all those mean-spirited reviewers, my question is: if you hated the book so much, why did you waste your time on it? Seems to me those folks are the ones who needed this book the most, yet read it without appreciating any of the gifts it has to offer. Now, I am not saying that this book is some sort of holy text; to the contrary, the writer is, or at least starts out, as a whiney, neurotic mess, who admittedly can be quite annoying in her self-referential misery. And her path to spirituality reads more like a TV reality show than the Bhagavad Gita. But I love the intensely personal, hyper observant, open-to-everything way in which she embraces her experiences, as well as the gritty and witty way she communicates. The chapters are packed with wonderful nuggets of information, wise insights, fascinating observations of people and cultures, and delicious moments of sensuality, spirituality, grace and inspiration. As a person who enjoys nature writing, my one disappointment with the book was that her interest seems so exclusively focused on people. I would have enjoyed a little more natural history, the names of some of the beautiful flowers and butterflies she describes, or a description of a dog or cat or sacred cow that even begins to match the sensitivity and wonder with which she describes humans. But that is a minor quibble with a major achievement. And I don't even say this because I identify with the author's journey. I spent my glorious months in Italy when I was 20, have met my soul mate, and am able to quiet my mind without visiting an Ashram. But I, and I suspect most of us, can always use some help expanding our world views and and shoring up our moral and spiritual failings; this book inspires such self-work while being thoroughly entertaining.

5 out of 5 stars

good September 4, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful

This is a very interesting and fun book to read. Elizabeth is creative in her descriptions of her experiences.

1 out of 5 stars

like so many others, very dissappointed September 4, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

Not only did I find her whiney and self-absorbed, but also didn't see her as a really great writer. I almost quite half way but I hate not to finish, so I slugged through it all. There were a few interesting times in the book, but they are few and far between. Just find someone who read it and ask them to recap their favorite paragraph and you're done.

2 out of 5 stars

UNrealistic September 3, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

While parts of this book make for a good read, it is hard to believe that such a spastic person has everything work out for just in time to write a book. If you must read this, skip the

5 out of 5 stars

Naval gazinf but surprisingly excellent September 2, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful

This was chosen for our book club and I was reticent as I do not enjoy books on religion and I was worried that she'd be very preachy, thankfully, she's not. Yes, she does an astounding amount of naval gazing but she is self-depracating and quite humorous. I loved, loved, loved the first section in Italy and so agreed with many of her observations, Pray was hard since she's just so determined to put herself through some tremendous mind hurtles to get to a state of enlightnement, then Love, is a beautiful ending to the book. Is she annoying? At times, sure but she lays herself bare and it's an interesting journey with a triumphant ending.