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Imserba Webstore - Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
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List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $10.17
Your Save: $ 4.78 ( 32% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Large Print Distribution
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 910.4092
EAN: 9781594132667
Feature: ISBN13: 9781594132667
Format: Large Print
ISBN: 1594132666
Label: Large Print Distribution
Manufacturer: Large Print Distribution
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 633
Publication Date: 2007-10-26
Publisher: Large Print Distribution
Studio: Large Print Distribution
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Editorial Reviews:
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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.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Eat Pray love
Comment: This book was for a book club and I had a blast reading how is does all the stuff it made me laugh so hard at times I almost cried it is such a good book I can't wait until her another book comes out I still waiting I got this on the day of book club it was good thanks
Customer Rating:
Summary: Disappointing, a bit boring and misleading
Comment: First, let me say two things:
1) I did not finish this book. I made it halfway through India before I deemed the book a waste of my time.
2) I know this is a memoir. I realize that the author was simply stating what she felt and what she was going through. I make no judgments against her for how she dealt with a very personal matter.
That said, I found this book rather disappointing. It seemed that the same thing was being said over and over and over. I was really looking forward to the section on India since it was the religious part of her journey I was really interested in. For me, it just fell flat. Again, though, I didn't finish that section due to boredom, so maybe I missed out on the fun part.
Additionally, I found her to be quite mentally unstable (as one could expect), however, I felt like she celebrated that wanted that to be perfectly normal and OK. I find that to be a bit irresponsible. While she did mention being on anti-depressants, I believe this book gives people the impression that hearing voices is perfectly OK and just part of a spiritual journey. I can only wonder how many people read this book and didn't seek help when they really needed it because of the way the author portrayed her mental illness.
Customer Rating:
Summary: a reader from Hong Kong
Comment: It's very boring. I kept on reading hoping it will get better. until... when while in India she was conversing with her mind and calling Mediterranean sea an ocean, I could not take it any more. What a waste of time.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Dull, Frivolous, Contrived
Comment: Although many reviews of EPL have already been published, I could not resist the temptation to publicly critique Ms. Gilbert. To begin, I share the skepticism of all those who have questioned her motivation for the year of traveling, as well as the authenticity of her emotional crisis. She admits that her supposed suffering was largely due to poor choices, and her unwillingness to explain the source of unhappiness within her marriage makes one wonder if the problem did not originate with her. Part one (eating in Italy) is well-written and sometimes witty, but as I concluded that part, I thought, "So what?" Gilbert had talked a lot about crying and eating, but there was no real substance to be found in that section. Also, everything was just too cutesy and perfect. A friend named Luca Spaghetti? A sexy young Italian study partner (with an equally sexy twin) who just happened to be sensitive beyond his years? C'mon already.
Part two (praying in India) is painfully boring. It is also the most conspicuously contrived. What are the odds of going to a hidden ashram somewhere outside of Mumbai and fortuitously meeting up with a perfectly stereotypical middle-aged Texas male -- cleverly named Richard from Texas -- who says things like: "Man, they got mosquitoes 'round this place big enough to rape a chicken." Rape a chicken? And, what are the odds that this stereotypical Texan would give you the nickname "Groceries" because you eat a lot? Gilbert's creative well is running dry at this point. In fact, her overall writing begins to deteriorate in part two, as she clearly struggles with humor and metaphor -- among other things. Consider this: "Outside the walls of the Ashram, it is all dust and poverty." Very colloquial and indifferent, and probably does not do justice to the level of poverty that she saw there. (I should also point out here that Gilbert used the word "all" probably a hundred times, as in "all dust and poverty," or "all happy." It really got old.) I lost interest in part two when Gilbert described a young Indian friend as "the cutest little bookworm of an Indian girl you ever saw." It reminded me of a white co-worker who referred to her Native American husband as "my little Indian." Condescending and stereotypical. Part two is also a bit preachy and grandiose, and you will not be left with the impression that Gilbert was ever truly aware of India. Her supporters may say that she did not go to India to experience the suffering of the people but to have a spiritual experience in the ashram. While that would be a valid point, the level of spiritual enlightenment that she achieved in India could have been achieved anywhere else in the world -- including her native New York.
Part three (loving in Indonesia) was a little more interesting than I anticipated. It also read faster than part two, which was good. Some things, however, still seemed contrived. For example, the first person Gilbert met in Bali was an Indonesian hotel worker who called himself Mario and just happened to share Gilbert's penchant for all things Italian. She met a traditional healer, Wayan, who happened to have a little girl named Tutti, which, in Italian -- here's the ubiquitous Italian theme again; she simply will not let it go -- means everybody. When she contracted a bladder infection after too much sex with her much older Brazilian boyfriend, she went to Wayan, who gave her an herbal concoction which fixed the problem within two hours! The reader wonders: Why did she not simply go to a hospital? Are there no hospitals in Bali? Of course there are hospitals in Bali. However, being treated by a (stereotypically cute) herbalist makes for a better story. Perhaps the most outlandish thing that Gilbert did in part three was to raise $18,000 (in one short week, mind you, thanks to her apparently affluent friends and family in the States and around the world) to help Wayan buy a house. She naively turned all the money over to Wayan, and the house did not get built before she left the island. (Wayan promised that the building would start the same week that Gilbert was scheduled to leave, but I would love to know if it ever happened.) Part three concludes with the following ridiculous poem/formula: "Australia, America, Bali, Brazil = A, A, B, B." (Gilbert and her Brazilian lover plan to live an international romance in the four places.) Despite the weaknesses in part three, it contains a few interesting passages about Balinesian history and culture. It is for that reason that I give the book two stars instead of one. My advice to potential readers is this: If you are willing and able to completely suspend judgment, and you do not mind being lectured on religion by someone with no greater knowledge than yourself, then this is a great book. However, if you look at it critically, you will see that it is, for the most part, dull, frivolous, and contrived. Because Julia Roberts is currently filming the movie, the book will be given new life. If you must read it, then do yourself a big favor and buy a used copy or check one out from the library.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A 'Real' story.
Comment: This book confuses many males and empowers many woman to be themselves.
We cannot all be stereo types, even though sometimes the community we live in makes it clear that is what we are supposed to want.
This story is real to me in so many ways, but you have to read it with an open mind to get it...If you start thinking 'how selfish of her...or 'what a drama queen' during the first pages then this book is not for you and your mind is not open.
If you want to feel good about loving yourself for who you are and not for what you are supposed to be then you will love this book.
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