Eat Pray Love Made Me Do It

February 15, 2016
With an introduction by Elizabeth Gilbert, this collection of 47 short essays on how her bestselling book changed the writers’ lives will be of interest to the author’s fans as well as to others wondering what the Eat Pray Love hubbub was (and still is) all about. The selections are varied, though a few themes run throughout. Like Gilbert, a number of writers left unhappy marriages, found the courage to travel to far-flung locales, or came to epiphanies on their bathroom floor. Others faced serious health problems, or abandoned unrewarding careers. Some contributors are parents; others are childless—some, like Gilbert, by choice. The stories shared are often fascinating, though readers may tire of the countless (and perhaps unnecessary) expressions of gratitude to Gilbert. Nevertheless, the collection clearly reveals the myriad ways in which her groundbreaking memoir has affected its readers. No doubt, like Eat Pray Love itself, this follow-up will inspire people, as Gilbert writes here, to step out of “their tired old selves” and follow their dreams.

February 15, 2016
Grateful readers tell why Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir became such a phenomenal success. After Eat Pray Love was published in 2006, the author was overwhelmed by readers who told her that the book had changed their lives--but she didn't know quite how. "It was only seeing the incredible range of submissions that came pouring in for this anthology that I finally got it," she writes in the introduction. Most of the contributors repeated the same story: the book made them realize, "my life doesn't have to look like this anymore." That is the theme of the nearly 50 short essays--most by women--in a collection that is both inspiring and, for Gilbert, self-congratulatory. Many entries end by thanking "Liz," as the writers often call her, for waking them up and convincing them that they "are allowed to change" and "to assert agency over the direction you go next." Many writers were depressed, and all were feeling stuck and unsatisfied with their lives. Some were sick with HIV, cancer, anorexia, and other illnesses. Some were mired in bad marriages, many were bored, and others were fearful. "I learned to forgive myself for being scared and imperfect, for making mistakes," one woman writes. "I stopped allowing myself to use those mistakes as an excuse to not try new things." Self-affirmation is a recurrent theme: "Liz showed me that we cannot heal without loving our whole selves," wrote a woman who had suffered debilitating back pain that made her feel "trapped" in her body. "Eat Pray Love gave me the chutzpah to jump into the ultimate unknowing," said a woman suffering from late-stage Lyme disease, referring to her decision to enroll in an experimental stem cell treatment program in India. For some, the ultimate unknowing meant ending a marriage, setting out on travel, or, for one woman, signing up for six weeks of burlesque classes. A new treat for Gilbert's many fans.

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March 1, 2016

Since its 2006 publication, Elizabeth Gilbert's astoundingly successful Eat Pray Love, which traces the author's psychic (and globe-trotting) journey from emotional misery to self-determination and personal satisfaction, has served as a guide for the discontented who are ready to realize that "My life doesn't have to look like this anymore." Oprah, Hollywood, and countless yoga studios took notice and a phenomenon was born. Now, ten years after Gilbert's cultural juggernaut took off, this collection serves up the tales of almost 50 lives changed--for the better--by the inspiration provided in her original work. Writers from various backgrounds each share an "aha" moment prompted by Gilbert's experience and relate accounts of abuse, addiction, grief, and spiritual unmooring, along with episodes of ennui and bad career choices. Their applied transformative methods range from yoga and travel to divorce, coloring books, and rehabilitation. The common factor? Encouragement supplied by Gilbert's story of renewal. VERDICT More than one contributor mentions being given a copy of Eat Pray Love by a concerned mother or friend; such readers will relish this work. It will also appeal to those whose lives were similarly changed, or those who hope to be so.--Therese Purcell Nielsen, Huntington P.L., NY

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