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Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
Eat Pray Love One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy India and Indonesia
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
First, pleasure: savoring Italy's buffet of delights -- the world's best pizza, free-flowing wine and dashing conversation partners -- Gilbert consumes la dolce vita as spiritual succor. "I came to Italy pinched and thin," she writes, but soon fills out in waist and soul. Then, prayer and ascetic rigor: seeking communion with t...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780143038412
ISBN-10: 0143038419
Publication Date: 2/2007
Pages: 352
Rating:
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 4038

3.5 stars, based on 4038 ratings
Publisher: Penguin
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia on
Helpful Score: 123
Didn't like it. Gilbert struck me throughout the book as someone who looks in the mirror, is completely enamoured with what she sees, and then writes 300+ blase pages about it. This book is literally all about herself - and I do understand that this is an autobiography - but she just goes on and on and on about how she's feeling or her weight problems or her love life and it does grow tiresome after about 100 pages. The fact that this book is a NY Times bestseller is what kept me reading, but I ultimately gave up. Lovely cover though.
Rebemdee avatar reviewed Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia on
Helpful Score: 109
I didn't like it and gave up reading it halfway through India; I skimmed the rest of the book and was glad I didn't spend more time reading it. I don't easily stop reading books, I'll tough it out to the bitter end, but I couldn't with this book. I found the author to be entitled, whiney, and she didn't seem to be enlightened by any of the wonderful opportunities laid at her feet. She added every challenge to her collection of woe and misery as more proof her life is so difficult, and she has every right to be ungrateful and complain. A paid trip to Italy? "Oh, so horrible that I don't have a lover to share it with, because I LEFT HIM." A paid trip to India? "Oh, meditation makes me cranky." I just couldn't tolerate it and gave up.

Eat Pray Love? How about, "Traveled the world paid for by my publisher and had to write some drivel that seemed profound to justify the expense account, and then my publisher felt bad that they spent so much money for me to have no fun and marketed the hell out of this book to make back their money."

I don't get why this is a best-seller, other than the ferocious marketing.
reviewed Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia on
Helpful Score: 88
I have to say that I did not even finish reading this book. I have been a voracious reader all my life and I can only think of 3 books that I have not finished in 37 years and this would be one of them. I got this book based on all the great reviews I saw, but found myself completely bored out of my skull with trying to read this.
TarynC avatar reviewed Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia on + 213 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 60
This was a very annoying book. It's all about a womans self indulgent journey to find happiness while she writes about it and gets paid to do it. Not a bad deal for her, but annoying to me.
reviewed Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia on + 37 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 59
"Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert is "one woman's search for everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia".

It came highly recommended to me. I love travel. I love reading about other people's experiences while traveling. I really enjoy reading about everywhere, places I've been and places I haven't been. But, I really dislike reading about someone who complains about their live. This is what I call the "poor me" syndrome. And let me tell you, this book's got that.

Gilbert's "poor me" went on for most of the book. It was so infiltrated that I almost couldn't finish it. But, I had to. Why? Because I really wanted to hear what it was like in Bali, not because I cared about any of the characters. Well, that's not true. There was an old man in Bali who I cared about.

If you're going to whine and complain about how bad your life is, don't make me read about it for over 300 pages. One or two would do.

The good part of the book? Hearing about Italy and Indonesia. But I still don't really recommend that you put yourself through it.
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annlihl avatar reviewed Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia on + 3 more book reviews
Funny, witty and entertaining, but there were times in the book where I thought it was too chatty which made certain sections boring to read. There were certain characters in the book where I felt were inspiring, and there were times where I felt the author was a bit dramatic too. I felt it was not the type of book where you "couldn't put it down". There were times I had to put it down and then decided about all I could take were ten pages a day before my eyes started glazing over. I rated it a 3 because she is a witty with her words, funny and entertaining with certain stories.
reviewed Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia on + 3 more book reviews
This book is awesome and very inspiring and thought-provoking!
Because I had seen the movie version first, I purposely googled images of the real Elizabeth Gilbert rather than to have Julia Roberts face in my mind. It made the reading experience more real since it's a true story!
I highly recommend this book for spiritual seekers no matter your religous affiliation or lack thereof. It's also just a great story for those who love world travel as well since you learn a lot about three completely different cultures.


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