Book Review: "Eat Pray Love"

Yes, okay, I know I'm late to the game on this one (just like Skinny Bitch) but with this one, unlike the last, it was definitely better late than never. I had picked up the book and thumbed through at more bookstores than I'd like to remember, but for one reason or another I never purchased it. Then, the commercials for the film, starring Julia Roberts, started airing on TV and I knew I had to read it. Yes, consumerism at work people! I was a bit let down when I logged onto the NYPL website and became #346 on the wait list for this book. So I broke down and went to the bookstore. And I'm glad I did!

If you don't know much about Eat Pray Love, it is the true story of a tumultuous time in the life of author Elizabeth Gilbert. In her early thirties, she came to the frightening realization that the life she was leading was not the life she really wanted. The story takes the reader through a graphic and deeply personal retelling of Gilbert's separation, post-separation relationship, divorce, and journey to take control of her life.

At times the story was so fantastic that I really wondered how true to life it really was. I often wondered "do people really live like this?" Throughout the book I felt pangs of sympathy and sadness for her, knowing that her struggles really are similar to those of countless others, and then I'd be fascinated and envious of her travels and ability to turn her life on its head, taking such incredible leaps of faith. 

I've never read a book written in this way - sometimes it is as if she is writing the chapter as it is happening, when other times she is looking back. She writes about the event of her publisher providing her with the advance on the very book I am reading so that she can afford to take off for a year to explore and find her way, and come up with the material for the book. I enjoyed learning about Italian culture, Ashrams in India and Balinese culture and history (they obviously have a very effective tourism industry). I didn't particularly enjoy all of the intimate details about her divorce, relationship woes and mental instability. Obviously, they are important to the story, because without that chapter of her life, she would have never set out on this journey of self-realization. But, personally, I still would have understood the extent of her troubles without quite so many details.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was entertaining, enlightening and inspirational. If I take one thing away from this book, it is that it's never too late to take the time and seek out what really makes us happy. That we must take care of ourselves and make ourselves happy and in extension, it will help our relationships with others.

There is so much more I could say about this book, but I'll spare you now and just encourage you to read this book if you haven't done so already. You can be sure I'll be finding my way to a theater to see this movie, perhaps after a yoga class!

Click HERE for more information about the book.

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workout stats -

13.5mile bike

27minute StairMaster

3x10 cable pull twists

3x10 lateral bent arm raise

3x10 seated row

3x10 hammer curls

3x10 front arm raise

stretching