I haven’t seen the movie or read the book because I know I would hate them both and I already have too many things that make me dyspeptic without seeking out more.

But I do love a good piece of writing trashing Eat, Pray, Love, and this short essay on Videogum by someone named Gabe is it. Absolutely wonderful, visceral, smart, funny, Eat, Pray, Love hatred.

By the way, if you have a few minutes, watch that TED talk of Elizabeth Gilbert’s (it’s in the Videogum piece). It’s very hard to say just exactly why it’s as annoying as it is, but….it is really annoying. If I ever give a talk about how hard it is being a divinely inspired genius—seriously, this is what she says—and not killing myself, shoot me before it’s over.

Watching Gilbert deliver that talk reminds me of William Hurt in Broadcast News—they’re strikingly similar— which prompts me to post this classic scene from that film. It’s such a pleasure to hear again the writing in it, which is both so poignant and so smart at the same time. I don’t wish I’d written Eat, Pray, Love, but if I had written this one scene in Broadcast News, I’d feel pretty good about myself.