I would like to give this book a good review- I really would. After all, so many people have been drawn to it, have found meaning and maybe even purpose in it. But despite all this, I can’t in good conscience give anything more than two stars. Billed as a spiritual journey of sorts, the author takes up on a trip from America to Italy to India and beyond in the wake of a failed marriage. One can forgive the self-absorbed tone in the beginning of the book- after all, one doesn’t start at enlightenment- it’s a process. However, the author never seems to grow through her journey, so that same voice that could be forgiven at the start of the book grows tiresome and irritating by the end. She doesn’t seem to learn anything real about herself, and doesn’t seem interested in learning anything about the people she encounters as she travels. When, at the end of the book, she finds herself embarking on another relationship (during what was supposed to be her chance to learn how to be alone, no less!) one fears it too will be doomed to failure, since despite all the cash spent traveling and all the time spent ‘looking inward’ the author has yet to address what truly caused her discontent in the first place. And what’s uplifting about that?