Feast, Fast, Fornicate

I just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love by Liz Gilbert. I know, I know, I am so behind the times. The apex of successfull bookness has been passed. So famous now, Ms. Gilbert has been on Oprah twice, and has her own splendid website where she has her bio, etc., and a tid-bit on how to become a splendidly successful saucy little writer just like her. Fabu.


Actually, amid the sea of backlash against the book, I snatched it from my mother in a desparate attempt to keep my thesis procrastinating in full blossom. I had no hopes for the book and not much interest aside from that basic gut reaction to any popular book: "what-in-whatever-makes-this-volume-so-damn-hot". The book is most likely like whatever you've heard about it. It's a pretty unabashedly straight forward fluffish story organized as the title suggests written by just the person you'd imagine would want her book titled as such. Not bad, but reading it was not as helpfull as I'd hope in understanding the freakshow surrounding the book. I mean, I know every emotional self absorbed successful wealthy NYC divorce (which apparently a large LARGE number of North American women desperately want to be, or, to at least believe that they could be or could have been) would like to read a story about herself or that "speaks volumes" to her, but, well, I'm shocked that so many of them both read and buy the books they indeed read.

Not insightful much is Miss Gilbert. But funny, yes, moderately. Also, somewhat successful at illuminating some of the most problematic issues in being a modern woman. [Spoiler Alert!] Probably one of the best examples is that unlike her sister, Liz doesn't want kids though she feels -from her husband, society, and even herself- that she should. Oh, what to do? Talk to hubby? Completely left out if she tried that one before hooking up with hottie young actor du jour. Is that kosher? - should've been a question, but no. There are other modern woman relationship-y conundrums, such as how much compromise do you make for couplehood? How much of your needs should someone else "fulfill"? What is the ideal man if you don't want kids, and are independantly wealthy, and have a career you love? The small bits about these question were the only parts I could truly comiserate with Ms. Gilbert on. The rest, stuff our main gal describes as "yogic" perception, which I describe as the relativity of self-experience mixed with somewhat weird optimism and a bit of plain hooey, I could have really done without.

I suspect that if I met Liz in real life, she'd annoy the hell out of me in a day, and it would end suddenly after I lose it and slap her just to get one moment of repose from all the blathering. Of course, that part of her personality, which does come out in the book, is, I believe, what others have referred to as her "charm". Charming.

I think, like the clearly lost Self magazine editor that attempted to live her own version of the book, I should do my own version. First, I'd avoid the idiocy of said Self staffer and make my own quest built on the same basic structures and basic intentions of Gilbert's (what the 26 year of Editor did NOT do - WTF?). Secondly, I'd strip away the hackneyed bright-eyed neurosis of the main character, make her more street wise and less emotionally baskety, and aim for a more, er, realistic tale of the same said thing: Feast, Fast, Fornicate, because the basic plot of Gilbert's spiritual quest/book is composed of exactly those three things.