Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
By Elizabeth Gilbert
Penguin, 2007

Not everyone gets to take a year off to travel around the world in search of happiness and fulfillment. Yet that's exactly what author Elizabeth Gilbert does in Eat, Pray, Love. Shattered by her marriage breakup and contemplating suicide, Gilbert comes up with a plan for recovery: Over the next year she will pursue pleasure (through pizza and pasta) in Italy; seek spiritual peace (with the guidance of her guru) in India; and find balance (and, as it turns out, a hunky older man) in Bali.

Funny and candid, Gilbert takes you on two simultaneous journeys—one a trek through vastly different countries, and the other her inner search for self. The first is a fun ride; because Gilbert stays in each country for months, not just days or a couple of weeks, she offers a rich taste of the food, culture, people, and language. With her intimate style and eye for detail, Gilbert makes you feel like you're enjoying gelato along with her in Rome, scrubbing temple floors in an Indian village, and savoring ocean breezes on an Indonesian island.

It's that second, inner journey that gets on your nerves. Gilbert does an amazing job of articulating complicated feelings of guilt, bitterness, and remorse over her divorce and other relationships. Without a doubt, her honesty is to be admired. But she is so self-absorbed, so into self-examination, that at times you just want to say OH GET OVER IT. You're having wine and cheese in Naples—how bad can it be?

Despite the over-introspection, I enjoyed the book. Eat, Pray, Love makes you think about your own search for happiness—and it may even start you packing.

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–Reviewed by Laurie Herr