[11] Jennifer Egan of The New York Times described Gilbert's prose as "fueled by a mix of intelligence, wit and colloquial exuberance that is close to irresistible" but said that the book "drags" in the middle.

She was more interested in "the awkward, unresolved stuff she must have chosen to leave out," noting that Gilbert omits the "confusion and unfinished business of real life" and that "we know how the story ends pretty much from the beginning.

"[13] The Washington Post's Grace Lichtenstein stated that "the only thing wrong with this readable, funny memoir of a magazine writer's yearlong travels across the world in search of pleasure and balance is that it seems so much like a Jennifer Aniston movie.

"[8] Lev Grossman of Time, however, praised the spiritual aspect of the book, stating that "to read about her struggles with a 182-verse Sanskrit chant, or her (successful) attempt to meditate while being feasted on by mosquitoes, is to come about as close as you can to enlightenment-by-proxy."

"[16] Don Lattin of the San Francisco Chronicle agreed with Egan that the story was weakest while she was in India and questioned the complete veracity of the book.

Authors Joshunda Sanders and Diana Barnes-Brown wrote that "Eat, Pray, Love is not the first book of its kind, but it is a perfect example of the genre of priv-lit: literature or media whose expressed goal is one of spiritual, existential, or philosophical enlightenment contingent upon women's hard work, commitment, and patience, but whose actual barriers to entry are primarily financial."

The genre, they argued, positions women as inherently and deeply flawed and offers "no real solutions for the astronomically high tariffs—both financial and social—that exclude all but the most fortunate among us from participating.