eat, love, pray

LOVE IT/LOATHE IT
JENNIFER REESE, Alynda Wheat. Entertainment Weekly. New York: Feb 1, 2008. , Iss. 976; pg. 79

Abstract (Summary)
[...] rather than a pumpkin coach, a juicy book contract transports our heroine to her metaphorical ball, letting her travel the globe, consume mountains of Roman spaghetti, practice yoga, and eventually replace David with a devoted Latin lover.
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Full Text (262 words)
Copyright (c) 2008 Time Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this material may be duplicated or redisseminated without permission.
Two critics weigh in on Elizabeth Gilbert's divisive best-selling memoir, 'Eat, Pray, Love'.
LOVE IT
Shelve it among the fairy tales. Elizabeth Gilbert's incandescent memoir succeeds as a wish-fulfillment fantasy for women who no longer relate to Cinderella. Replace the timid, motherless maiden with a newly husbandless writer in her 30s; instead of evil stepsisters, sub in David, a rebound boyfriend who's Just Not That Into Her. And rather than a pumpkin coach, a juicy book contract transports our heroine to her metaphorical ball, letting her travel the globe, consume mountains of Roman spaghetti, practice yoga, and eventually replace David with a devoted Latin lover. She returns home not just healed, but a superstar. Is it all a little gooey? You bet. I can't defend this luscious confection any more than I can resist it.
LOATHE IT
The problem isn't the book, it's the author. Eat, Pray, Love is, after all, Elizabeth Gilbert's lavish reward to herself for dumping a seemingly unobjectionable husband and taking up with a cad. For the next year, on perhaps the most expensive backpacking trip in recorded history, she babbles about her selfless generosity to her ex (!), how much pasta she can pack away, and what a devoted, spiritual creature she's become. That's scarcely a triumph over adversity--and even if it were, Gilbert created that adversity herself. Besides, courtesy dictates more grace in winning. If, despite a marked self-centeredness, you somehow manage to end up with everything everyone has ever wanted, keep it to yourself.
[Author Affiliation]
JENNIFER REESE

Alynda Wheat

[Illustration]
[PHOTO]


Indexing (document details)
Subjects:
Autobiographies
People:
Gilbert, Elizabeth
Author(s):
JENNIFER REESE, Alynda Wheat
Document types:
Feature
Section:
THE REVIEWS: BOOKS
Publication title:
Entertainment Weekly. New York: Feb 1, 2008. , Iss. 976; pg. 79
Source type:
Periodical
ISSN:
10490434
ProQuest document ID:
1418281161
Text Word Count
262
Document URL:
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1418281161&sid=7&Fmt=3&clientId=19371&RQT=309&VName=PQD