Book Club-Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

I belong to a book club. This month's book is called Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

From Publishers Weekly "Gilbert (The Last American Man) grafts the structure of romantic fiction upon the inquiries of reporting in this sprawling yet methodical travelogue of soul-searching and self-discovery. Plagued with despair after a nasty divorce, the author, in her early 30s, divides a year equally among three dissimilar countries, exploring her competing urges for earthly delights and divine transcendence. First, pleasure: savoring Italy's buffet of delights--the world's best pizza, free-flowing wine and dashing conversation partners--Gilbert consumes la dolce vita as spiritual succor. "I came to Italy pinched and thin," she writes, but soon fills out in waist and soul. Then, prayer and ascetic rigor: seeking communion with the divine at a sacred ashram in India, Gilbert emulates the ways of yogis in grueling hours of meditation, struggling to still her churning mind. Finally, a balancing act in Bali, where Gilbert tries for equipoise "betwixt and between" realms, studies with a merry medicine man and plunges into a charged love affair. Sustaining a chatty, conspiratorial tone, Gilbert fully engages readers in the year's cultural and emotional tapestry--conveying rapture with infectious brio, recalling anguish with touching candor--as she details her exotic tableau with history, anecdote and impression." Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The reason we picked this book was one of the members of our book club saw Julia Roberts (who I love), gave it rave reviews on Oprah Winfrey. She loved the book so much, she said she bought it for all of her friends for Christmas last year. Julia is now slated to star in the movie.

As usual, I am not going to finish the book in time. Book club is Weds, its now Saturday and I am only 1/3 of the way through the book.

What do I think so far?

If a book didn't capture me right from the beginning, I had a hard time. My first thoughts on the book was "boy, I wish I could take a year out of my life and go to Italy, India and Indonesia and do some soul searching, how could a middle class working mom relate?" And that the main character was a bit "self absorbed." But after giving it another chance, I am really enjoying it, so much so, I am hoping to convince book club to postpone until I finish it (the Red Sox really took a bit into my reading time over the past 2 weeks). So far, I have finished the "eat" portion which takes place in Italy. Warning to anyone who is trying to diet and likes Italian food, the descriptions (particularly when she goes to Naples and eats pizza) are unbelievable. I almost sent the hubster out to get me pizza at 9pm just to satisfy my craving, which I haven't done since my first pregnancy.

I can't imagine what I will be craving when I get to the "love" section of the book. The hubster may go into hiding.

Anyone out there read the book? If so, share your thoughts...

~T