Are There Sequels To The Eat Pray Love Memoir?

Just finished reading ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ by Elizabeth Gilbert? Got the feeling of having just returned from a long haul of travel, but with a heavier and yet lighter suitcase? If so, you are not alone in feeling this way. Although Gilbert does go on to write more memoirs, which will be discussed below, she does not continue her travel and self-reconstruction in quite the same way as in ‘Eat, Pray, Love’. Her follow-up memoir, ‘Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage’ (2010), is a more acerbic exploration of the author’s experiences of falling in love and having to negotiate her desire for freedom with her partner’s cultural expectations of married life.

When I finally got to read everything Elizabeth Gilbert wrote after “Eat, Pray, Love” in my late twenties (yes, I spent a while just reading everything she wrote), it was interesting to read “Eat, Pray, Love Made Me Do It” first. It’s not a follow-up memoir in the form of a diary, but rather a collection of essays by readers of the original book. The volume, “Eat, Pray, Love Made Me Do It” (2011), includes essays from over 50 readers who were inspired to transform their lives after reading “Eat, Pray, Love.” Yes, it would have been great to have a book in the form of a community or sequel, but this collection is better. And, no, there is no movie sequel to “Eat, Pray, Love” – only the one movie already made about the memoir.

Later books, like Big Magic (2015), explore creativity and finding courage in our endeavors. They are spiritual companions to Eat, Pray, Love. If you like fiction by Gilbert, then look to The Signature of All Things or City of Girls, as both novels continue to showcase Gilbert’s wonderful portrayal of characters, her curiosity about human nature and the internal landscapes of her characters as they grapple with their outer realities. Her non-fiction, including many recent essays, as well as talks that she’s given across the country in recent years, continue to address the many themes explored in her earlier work – evolving as she does so.

Read Committed if you want to read the literal next chapter of Gilbert’s life. Then read Eat, Pray, Love Made Me Do It if you want to read about all of the other people who were affected by the first book. Lastly, Big Magic is a great source of emotional uplift without having to delve back into more of Gilbert’s personal memoirs. To me, follow-up Gilbert works like re-reading sections of EPL and then reading the rest of her work as letters from a particularly wise and funny friend. Any of these follow-ups would be great to read next depending on what you’re looking for.

Skip the book "Committed" by Elizabeth Marshall and read her interviews and talks from that time instead. The bulk of her immigration story and conclusions about marriage were outlined in a press tour of about 20 minute interviews, summaries of the book. Sometimes a condensed version of something that interests you is enough, and then you can read the long book if that idea resonates with you. But for someone just curious about what happened next for Elizabeth after she brought her husband to the US, read a long interview with her from 2010 in a magazine or a podcast interview. Satisfying enough.

I read 'Committed' during my own engagement. Big mistake. The book made me a hyper-critical partner! Gilbert expertly dissects the problematic history of marriage and then professes her personal devotion to it. So while 'Committed' is not a wedding celebration of sorts and will not get you pumped up to plan said wedding, it makes a wonderful thought partner who can work through all the anxieties and curiosities with you, provided you read it with the proper context.