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Travel book Eat, Pray, Love on Oprah this Friday

Eat, Pray, Love book cover I can’t remember the last time a travel book has been so widely accepted by the mainstream. Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love (2006) just might be the most popular travel book since Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods (1999). Or, has she surpassed those sales too? Catch Liz Gilbert on Oprah this Friday as the two women discuss her journey through Italy, India and Indonesia to reclaim her life after leaving a broken marriage.

Elizabeth answers questions like, “Were you ever worried that taking a year off to travel around the world was a selfish act?” on her website.

If you haven’t read this best-seller, catch up on World Hum or Bookslut. The Los Angeles Times said, “Gilbert’s wry, unfettered account of her extraordinary journey makes even the most cynical reader dare to dream of someday finding God deep within a meditation cave in India, or perhaps over a transcendent slice of pizza.”

Do you have any inspiring stories about how travel has healed you?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 at 11:48 pm by Jen Leo and is filed under Asia, Celebrity, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

3 Comments on “Travel book Eat, Pray, Love on Oprah this Friday”

Eat, Pray, Love and River Town ~ Jake Ludington’s Digital Lifestyle Says:
October 5th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
[...] I’m newly obsessed with reading travel books. After visiting China twice, I accidentally ran across River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (P.S.), a book chronicling Peter Hessler’s two years as a teacher in Fuling, China. River Town is quite possibly the best travel book I’ve ever read, in part because I can relate to many of Hessler’s personal triumphs in learning the Chinese language and partly because he’s a brilliant writer. I literally can’t wait to read the next chapter of the book. There’s a lot to be learned about experiencing Chinese culture as an outsider between the covers of River Town. Next on my list is the audiobook version of Eat, Pray, Love, which chronicles Elisabeth Gilbert’s year long travels across Italy, India, and Indonesia. Gilbert’s quest for self discovery is intriguing in her approach. Coincidentally, I’m finding out that Elizabeth Gilbert is also sharing her story on Oprah, which scares me a little because I generally don’t agree with Oprah’s taste in books. [...]
Joe Says:
October 8th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
A book can be a source of wisdom if it tells us the truth, and a source of deception if it tells us only what we want to hear. The message of the current best seller “Eat, Pray, Love” seems to be that the grass is always greener somewhere else, and that wherever you are - anything goes. To prop up these misconceptions, the book presents its three main concepts in a manner that is deeply ironic, deceptive and dangerous.
Author, Elizabeth Gilbert begins her journey to self-discovery by leaving her husband, and then leaving the country in order to find food. In particular, she leaves New York City where every variety of ethnic cuisine can be found in its finest form. Then in Italy, she quickly manages to gain 23 pounds, setting a very poor example for people who deal with food-related problems.
In the “pray” section Ms. Gilbert finds it necessary to leave Italy, in order to embark on a spiritual pilgrimage, even though the capital of Italy is the headquarters of the oldest, largest and most fruitful Christian Church in the history of the world. But then, she might not want anyone reminding her that there are consequences to our actions which can extend throughout eternity.
After all, she is off to Indonesia next where she claims to find “love” by having an affair. But that makes me question the value of her spiritual pilgrimage, since sex between unmarried people is known as adultery, and is condemned by the world’s major religions. But some people might find this truth to be less appealing than the idea of running away to eat, pray and love, in any manner that you choose to define them. And this book is for them.
And so in the final analysis, it seems safe to say that Ms. Gilbert’s travels have brought her no closer to the truth than she was before she left home, and in some ways perhaps, much the worse for wear. One can only hope that anyone who has read this book will realize this and will have enough wisdom not to follow in her footsteps, and will also try to eat sensibly, pray sincerely and love genuinely.
Virginia Says:
May 30th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Hi,

There is only one thing I can say:
as I read her time in Italy and her disarrayed life, well That is exactly myself at this point. I am 36, left the US,a 14 years carrer,a house, all furniture and clothes behind as long with family opinions on me having to get married and a child, my friends opinion on my succesful career , and why I should not move back to Mexico.

I am here making 1/10 or less I used to …and needing very little, rethinking my career goals, my role as a woman …a single one. My journey really began on September 11, 2001 , when I decided to take a job offer.

Seven years ñater and tons of experiences and insights while in US, I am back to MYSELF , to find that blend between wordly needs and spiritual ones, as the author describes Indonesia….I have so much to say but I will stop here.

Thanks for this book…it voices my own feelings so well…

I wish I could join your club but in Mexico you get only a few set of titles.

Sincerely,

Virginia (Veracruz, Mexico)