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 enlarge | Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Publisher: Viking
Category: EBooks
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $5.20
You Save: $9.80 (65%)
Rating:  1736 reviews
Sales Rank: 67
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Dewey Decimal Number: 910.4
ASIN: B000PDYVVG
Publication Date: April 11, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Spiritual Narcissism November 2, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have such mixed feelings about this book. For starters, in order to even read it I had to put aside a pretty major reservation: To finance one's personal spiritual quest by getting an advance on a book one will write about said quest seems more than a bit exploitative.
But I put this reservation aside, and I actually enjoyed the first two thirds or so. I think the Italy section was the strongest. At this point in the book, the author is still feeling rather unsure of herself and the mess her life has become. In other words, she's humble, and her self-deprecating humor is enjoyable. This section alternates between travelogue--which, as an armchair traveler, I was very attracted to--and the beginnings of a search for the causes of the author's personal misery. At this point, she seems excited and open-minded, and so was I.
The second section, in India, kept my interest, largely owing to Richard from Texas, a colorful character whose own struggles in life have made him a refreshing, humorous wise man of sorts. I enjoyed the descriptions of the Ashram and some of the other seekers there, although I had some issues with the rather sudden breakthrough the author claims to have had, moving from complete meditation ineptitude to a kundalini experience with the mere change of mantra. As a yogini myself, I was disappointed that there was virtually no discussion at all of her hatha yoga practice; the meditation was all.
It was in the third section of the book that I started to develop a bad taste in my mouth. It is never clear, even from the outset of the book, what the point of the Indonesian segment is. She talks about finding "balance" there, but did she need to go to another country to find that? And she failed to convince me that the Balinese live a balanced lifestyle at all. In fact, this entire section was riddled with contradiction, not the least--or least concerning--of which is the fact that twice, she admits to lying outright to her friends. Is this the behavior of a woman who has been growing spiritually and finding a personal connection to God? The last lie she tells, to her friend Wayan, is nothing more than a way of manipulating the woman into doing what she wants. The author rationalizes her behavior by saying she made her friend do what was good for her and her children, as if it's her business in the first place. Let me back up. The entire situation that culminates in the lie originates in the author's decision to email her friends and ask them for money to buy her needy friend Wayan a house. However, she does so without even asking Wayan if this is what she wants, and then when she gives the money to Wayan, instead of using it to buy a house for her, she winds up manipulating her with lies in order to get her to use the money the way it was intended. Does this not seem a bit controlling and meddling? And is controlling and meddling a sign of spiritual growth?
What's more, it's one thing to do a good turn for someone and ask for nothing in return. Many people help others anonymously as a way of doing good in the world as a purely selfless, spiritual act. But the entire time Liz Gilbert is raising this money for her friend, she is TELLING US ABOUT IT IN GREAT DETAIL. In other words, she reaps the ego benefit of her act, which, in my own humble opinion, is not a spiritual approach to helping others. In fact, it keeps the author at the center of the story.Of course, simultaneously, she's making money off the story in the form of sales of the book, which to my understanding have been quite substantial, but I guess one could argue she didn't know it was going to be a best seller.
Meanwhile, the man she calls "my medicine man" (another thing that rubbed me the wrong way; what makes him hers?) keeps mentioning how badly he needs money, yet it appears Gilbert is spending day after day talking with the man and allegedly gleaning gems of wisdom from him without doing any more in return than photocopying his notes and putting them into binders. Does she even pay him for reading her palm and imparting his knowledge? If she does, she doesn't mention it, although she seems bemused enough by his repeated request to bring her Western friends to him for palm readings because "I am very empty in my bank." It seems only fair to pay a working medicine man who primarily serves a poverty stricken clientele for his time. In fact, there is something too colonial about the entire expate scene Gilbert becomes a part of. A bunch of well-to-do Westerners who can afford to live it up in an impoverished country live among and befriend the poor locals. Excuse me if I sound cynical, but Gilbert seems always to have the upper hand; her telling shows the local people revering her like some sort of goddess. Can you say British in India? French in Vietnam?
Yes, as other reviewers have said, Liz Gilbert 's memoir is self-absorbed, but what else could I expect from the story of one person's spiritual growth? I guess I expected her "growth" to look more selfless and less narcissistic. You know, more "spiritual."
 One of the inspiring stories November 1, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
I don't think everyone will like this book. There's lags in the book. Some parts over dramatic, other parts overly detailed however, this is one book that I will never forget. Elizabeth Gilbert has faced some incredible lows in life. I find her ability to rise above the situation inspiring and for me, I take from it, the realization that life can continue when you've lost it all. I love one of her tales on the power of prayer. It's beautiful. How can you not be uplifted by her journey.
It's flawed but so INSPIRING.
 Shut UP already! October 31, 2008
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
One thing became very clear to me while listening to this chronicle of self-love and middle-class privilege: the most dangerous place to be if in proximity of Elizabeth Gilbert is between her and her hugely high opinion of herself.
This puling, grueling, whiny tale of...what? Someone who's SUFFERED so BADLY because they went through a divorce (well I never heard of such suffering! Golly whilickers!) with a man who has committed unspecified crimes (no doubt: didn't praise her highly at least three times an hour). It's a cringe-worthy read, especially when she swoops down on a completely impoverished "medicine man" who cannot for the life of him remember her after her absence of several years (how could he? She's so gosh darned SPECIAL!!!) or when she suckers some friends into ponying out money so that she can later write about how she saved some Balinese grifter lady's life.
I'd love to see what Liz Gilbert would do if she had to write a book like Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickled and Dimed"...where she actually had to go out and do some work and publish something that actually opened up our eyes to the inherent difficulties of most human lives (underappreciated, underpaid, tired, overworked). Oh let me guess...she'd cry on the bathroom floor until we all got so tired of her we'd raise money and send her to Bali, Italy, an ashram...anywhere, just out of our faces.
Absolute gem October 29, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
I really can't say enough good things about this book. I think it really is a masterpiece and will be a classic for women for years to come. Gilbert is a fantastically witty and engaging writer who knows how to draw the reader in. Interestingly, after reading this book I found that it was easier for me to be more honest and open in my own journal writing which is something I didn't expect to have happen. I would say that the book is definitely more for women who feel a need to look at their lives in a different, shall I say, more spiritual way. But Gilbert is such an excellent writer that really anyone would enjoy it. I think it's a must read.
 I wouldn't have bought it for myself...but enjoyed it October 28, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is not the type of book I would have bought for myself. However, my mom gave it to me for Christmas and I found it difficult to put down. It did get a little long and sluggish in the middle, but I'm glad I finished it.
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