Eat, Pray Love

I didn't expect to like this book. I knew it was a travel memoir, and the author had been on Oprah. When something becomes as successful as this book has been (how many weeks on the best seller lists?!?!) I get a little snobby and decide anything so mainstream is probably too least common denominator for me.

What I didn't expect when I started reading it for my bookclub is how honest Elizabeth Gilbert is about where she was emotional and spiritually at the start of her travels. I almost said "at the start of her journey" but Andy always insists that the books we read for bookclub are "a woman's journey of self-discovery." He's right this time, but it's better than the cliche, so I'd like to resist using it.

It helps that Elizabeth Gilbert's approach to spirituality is a lot like mine, believing that we can take the pieces of different traditions that speak to us. I was talking to a co-worker about the book yesterday who said she thinks it's a book about transitions and how they're a process instead of like flipping a switch. I like that take better than Andy's.