Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
by Elizabeth Gilbert
Summary
In her early thirties, Elizabeth Gilbert had everything a modern American woman was supposed to want — husband, country home, successful career — but instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she felt consumed by panic and confusion. This wise and rapturous book is the story of how she left behind all these outward marks of success, and of what she found in their place. Following a divorce and a crushing depression, Gilbert set out to examine three different aspects of her nature, set against the backdrop of three different cultures: pleasure in Italy, devotion in India, and on the Indonesian island of Bali, a balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence.
To find out who she really was and what she really wanted, Elizabeth got rid of her belongings, quit her job, left her loved ones behind and undertook a year-long journey around the world, alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the chronicle of that year. Gilbert's aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature, set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. In Italy, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the twenty-three happiest pounds of her life. India was for the art of devotion, where, with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise Texan, she embarked on four months of austere spiritual exploration. Finally, in Indonesia, she sought her ultimate goal: balance—namely, how to build a life of equilibrium between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. Looking for these answers on the island of Bali, she became the pupil of an elderly, ninth-generation medicine man and also fell in love in the very best way—unexpectedly.
A memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment. It is also about the adventures that can transpire when a woman stops trying to live in imitation of society's ideals. This is a story certain to touch anyone who has ever woken up to the unrelenting need for change.
Praise
"If a more likeable writer than Gilbert is currently in print, I haven't found him or her ... Gilbert's prose is fueled by a mix of intelligence, wit, and colloquial exuberance that is close to irresistible." - The New York Times Book Review
"A wonderful book, brilliant and personal, rich in spiritual insight." — Anne Lamott
"engaging, intelligent and entertaining... beautiful and honest and free." — Time Magazine
About the Author
Elizabeth Gilbert was born in Connecticut in 1969, and grew up on a small family Christmas tree farm. She attended New York University, where she studied political science by day and worked on her short stories by night. She was a journalist for many years, and one of her articles became the basis for the movie Coyote Ugly. Elizabeth's first book, the short story collection Pilgrims, was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway award. Her novel Stern Men, a story of fishing off the coast of Maine, was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book. Her Last American Man was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Elizabeth is best known for her memoir Eat, Pray, Love which was an international bestseller, translated into over thirty languages, sold over 7 million copies worldwide, and was made into a movie starring Julia Roberts. The book became so popular that, in 2008, Time Magazine named Elizabeth as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Elizabeth's fifth book, Committed, was published in 2010. She lives in rural New Jersey with her husband, her garden, and many beloved pets, and is at work on a new novel.
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