I can picture in my mind the exact type of person who may enjoy this book. That person, however, is certainly not me. I wasn't sure what I would get out of reading this book, being a firm atheist and all, but my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to give it a try. One might think it was the religious aspects of the book that would turn me off, but in fact those may have been the best parts of the book.The book starts off terrible and then proceeds to only get worse. The pages of this book are filled with whining sob stories of a woman who dotes on herself and tries to coo the reader into feeling sorry for her. It's hard to feel sorry for a woman who has everything she could ever want, including a husband who treats her wonderfully and does not a single thing to harm her and yet she complains and cries over how terrible her marriage was. She cries about as often as a new born baby who has yet to received a single drop of milk in it's first days of life. Maybe I personally just can't understand how hard it must be to be rich in money, love, and life, but I cannot find it in myself to feel an ounce of sorrow for her.
One would have to search high and low to find a more arrogant writer as Gilbert. There was no empowerment in this book and even less focus on any signs of maturity or growth during her "journey." The memoir feels not like a memoir at all but more like a glorified business trip (which in fact it was).
I could go on for pages about the things I hated about this book (mainly the author), but i'd rather spend my time reading something of worth. In conclusion I do not recommend this book to anyone who is not completely head over heels with feeling sorry for themselves and making people believe that their lives are much much much worse than they really are. This book will not give you any empowerment and will definitely not give you insight on the places she travelled to (Italy, India and Indonesia). I wish luck to anyone who tries to pick up this book and read it from start to finish.
