Review of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat, Pray, Love. Don't. Read. It.

Elizabeth Gilbert's book was one of the most self-indulgent memoirs I have ever read. We learn that she has gone through a divorce, but don't get much back story on what happened. And because we don't get this information, I had a hard time mustering up any empathy for her. She came across as whiny, entitled, and annoying-- not the makings of a narrator I can get on board with. I was more curious to hear her husband's side of the story about their failed marriage than I was to hear about Gilbert traipsing all over the world to re-discover herself. (Note: Her ex apparently has his own memoir coming out one of these days).

In theory, this was a great idea for a book-- a newly divorced woman takes off on her own to experience life in its grandest forms. If this woman had been likeable, fun, and not so completely self-centered, I probably would have enjoyed her book.

Yes, some of the writing about her travels in Italy, India, and Indonesia was interesting. But I could not get past the whininess that seemed to permeate the book.

Rarely do I keep reading a book that I so dislike. I guess I kept hoping that Gilbert would somehow redeem herself at the end. She didn't.

Memoirs by nature can be self-indulgent, and it can be hard to stike a balance in them. We want to understand the narrator, get to know her and her life. We need to feel like we are on their side.

For a well-crafted memoir, where we actually get to know the narrator, like her, and root for her, pick up The Glass Castle by Jeannette Wells or Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres.

Just One Pink gives Eat, Pray, Love a 4.