Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Second Growth by Wallace Stegner

About a rural town in New England - the people who live there, the urbanites who spend their summers there, and the encroaching outside world. Not one of my favorites of Stegner’s, but I enjoyed it and it’s – as always – well-written.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

After a horrible divorce, Gilbert spends a year traveling – 4 months of hedonistic existence in Italy, then 4 months at an ashram in India, then 4 months finding “balance” in Bali. The author often tries too hard to be funny/cute/clever, which makes the book seem pretty superficial and glib - but I enjoyed it.