She became the pupil of an elderly medicine man and also fell in love the best way, unexpectedly.Īn intensely articulate and moving memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment and stop trying to live in imitation of society's ideals. In Bali, she studied the art of balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. India was for the art of devotion, and with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise cowboy from Texas, she embarked on four uninterrupted months of spiritual exploration.
In Rome, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the 23 happiest pounds of her life. Her aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world, all alone. To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, and the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be. But instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief, and confusion. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want: a husband, a house, a successful career. Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned 30, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis.