It didn’t do it for you.

I thought it was moving.

Potato, Potahto

Then there’s the indication she never went through the experience of not get it her way. Once she got rid of the house she didn’t want anymore, she got the book deal and was able to travel, just as she wanted. I guess having David dump her was a real shocker, so she whines about her sorry life throughout the entire book - even as she’s a week shy of leaving the place where she is supposed to have found spirituality and inner peace. That only goes away once she finally rolls in the sack with her over-the-hill Brazilian friend. I am from Brazil, and guys with all the “this is how I’m going to please your body” thing are all over the place - take your pick. Not a pretty picture, think Will Ferrell in those SNL “professor and his lover” skits. Corny and grotesque. Plus the Portuguese she used in the book was down right crude. And ironically, this independent, self proclaimed feminist falls for the macho type. Go figure.

To sum it up, what I got from this book is that it’s a very damaging thing to always have things your way, have lots of cash to throw around, and no purpose to fulfill. You end up traveling all over and thinking you learned something, when in reality the only difference is that now you whisper when you talk.

[*sound of PB applauding*]

First, the male attention thing. I mean, she always had men doting on her. Everywhere she went, constantly. And in my experience, men don’t dote like that unless they are encouraged, regardless of how pretty one is. She reminded me of girls I knew as a teenager (and at times, myself) who had a gift of flirting just enough with all males to keep them swooning around without flirting too much to give them the wrong idea. Which is fine until the girl begins using him to fulfill her needs. There was a little of that in this book.

Second, the dialogue. I found myself asking SO many times “come on, did that character really say that?” If so, she not only has a knack for attracting men but also very eloquent, profound, poetic, wise and delightful people who never seem to phrase anything at all in a less than humerous or insightful manner. I mean, did she meet a single person who wasn’t extremely eloquent or funny or did she really just write in her own words and assign it to them? This gave me a hard time with the believability of the entire book. I mean, if she’s embelishing here, where else might she be embelishing?

Finally, Indonesia and her “friend” Wayan. Regardless of who was right or wrong and who misunderstood who (which I’m still not sure I have a hold on), why would you ever publish a book that makes your self-professed “friend” seem like a manipulative, sneaky, gold-digger. If that were true, then why is she your friend? If she is your friend, well, she isn’t anymore after reading what you wrote about her. Who sells out their good friends for a buck? And all those people who gave you money for her, those people who you were SO worried about finding out that this friend of yours wasn’t being up-front with you, how do you think they feel about her now? If I had donated, I would harbor some regrets about my money going to this woman charactized (perhaps incorrectly so) as “sneaky, manipulative, and greedy.” So this story does them no favors either.

All in all, I’m glad I read it. I did get a lot out of it - especially the meditation discussions.

One last comment, while I feel some posters on here are misguided, I feel that the author’s responses are a bit rude in some instances and in that sense, equally misguided. So, why don’t we just stick to the book and stop attacking eachother?

[JuditNeil@hotmail.com, I don’t have “sheep.” I work in ministry with intelligent human beings who can think for themselves. What a bizarre comment. I hope you won’t visit this blog again if you’re so offended by someone having, and expressing, an opinion. Yikes. –PB]

At least she had the courage to try something new instead of wallowing in her sorrow. I think that if we all spent a little more time doing that instead of envying other people’s happiness than we might all be a little better off. [I couldn’t agree more. But let’s not make leaps of logic that assume critiquing someone else’s writing equates “envying their happiness. - PB]

I had a great time reading about Gilbert’s turmoils, travels, acquaintances, spiritual thoughts, and even ultimately her romance with Felipe. She is a very gifted writer. You have to remember, though, this is a book about her experiences told in her voice - which naturally means it is shaped by who she is - her looks, her humor, her bluntness, her philosphy and her critical honesty most of the time (maybe not all the time).

I think I understand the poster’s criticism. Gilbert comes across as very perceptive and honest about who she is - but never says I am a person who would rather be with a man and for whom male attention is very important. She says early on about the downfall of her last relationship (with David) was that she wants/needs too much from a man. It seemed like at the end of the story she would have reached the conclusion (like she did about it being okay that she was not a quite reverent person) that it’s perfectly fine if she wants/needs attention from a man provided she is not trying to force a bad relationsip. So, she found in Felipe a male who wanted to give her the attention that she likes.

And yes Gilbert does gloss over the fact that a lot of her experiences may have been influenced by the fact that she was a good lucking blonde traveling alone. But I think most readers could tell that her experiences were influenced by who she was both inside and out with out her having to tell us.

Anyway, an interesting review…and one of the few negative ones I could find. Well done. [Why THANKS!! My favorite piece of hysterical irrational hate mail for daring to give the book a negative review was from a woman signing herself “Yoga Girl.” I thought that was so great in an ironic kind of way. - PB]