Wine and Book Group Pick for January 2008
For January we thought you'd enjoy reading Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia (Viking 2007), the runaway bestselling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert. Facing a difficult divorce and a punishing affair, the New York journalist decides to escape her personal hardship by traveling to Italy then India, finally ending up in Bali. At once funny and profound, Gilbert's self-indulgent journey can be your guilty pleasure this month, along with fine wines picked by our partners at Women & Wine. Paramount Pictures has acquired the rights and will star Julia Roberts, according to Variety.com
December 29, 2007 —
About the Author
I always balk at popular memoirs but was intrigued by the fact that Gilbert has received critical acclaim for her first three books. Born in Connecticut in 1961 and educated in Political Science from New York University, she then began a self-imposed tutorial in life, taking odd jobs, which she describes as her MFA.
When a piece submitted to Esquire Magazine was accepted, she became the first unpublished author since Norman Mailer (publicists love to draw these quaint analogies), which led to a stream of other notable magazine publications in GQ, Spin, the New York Times Magazine, and Travel + Leisure.
Her first book Pilgrims (Houghton-Mifflin 1997), a collection of short stories, received the Pushcart Prize and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award. This was followed by her novel The Last American Man (Houghton-Mifflin 2000), selected by the New York Times as a "Notable Book" and was also a finalist for the National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award. Eat, Pray, Love (Viking, 2006) made the New York Times best seller list of non-fiction in the spring of 2006.
Wine Selections
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano
When reading a book set in beautiful places one should accompany the experience with superlative wines. Brunellos are one of my favorites. Smooth and sometimes expensive, this is a drink for special occasions. It is made from the Sangiovese grape. Prugnolo can be blended with small amounts of Canaiolo and/or Mammolo. When good, it can combine the depth and backbone of a Brunello di Montalcino with the finesse of a fine Chianti.
Previous Wine & Book Picks
November Madonna:Like an Icon,
October Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, set in New England
August On Chesil Beach, set in England
July The Last Chinese Chef, set in Shanghai
June The Birth House, set in Nova Scotia
May Water for Elephants, set in Depression-era America
March-April Snowflower and the Secret Fan, set in China
February Cloudstreet, set in Perth, Australia
January The Good German, set in Berlin
December The Historian, set in Eastern Europe
November One Good Turn, set in Edinburgh
September Lost in the Forest, set in Napa Valley
August The Hummingbird's Daughter, set in Mexico
July The Devil Wears Prada, set in NYC
June Woolf in Ceylon, set in Ceylon
May Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living, Australia
April The Mermaid Chair, set in South Carolina
March Memoirs of a Geisha, set in Japan
February Get a Life, set in South Africa
January In the Shadow of the Wind, set in Barcelona
December Pride and Prejudice, set in England
November Beyond Measure, set in Renaissance Italy
October Breakfast at Tiffany's, set in New York
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