A Worthy Read?

I was interested in reading Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love before I knew they were making a movie; before I knew Julia Roberts, would be the star.  I wanted to read it because it had an interesting sounding title and the little I knew about the book's premise sounded intriguing.  What's not to like about the idea of traveling to Italy and a couple of other countries for a year?  Yes, I was mostly interested in reading about traveling around Italy eating. 


But I was still leery of it being too grown up for me; there's a reason I read young adult books.  I looked for a review on Rated Reads, but there wasn't one there at the time.  Last month when I saw a copy at the library, I decided to give it a try.  It took me a few chapters to realize it was an autobiography.  40 pages or so into the book, she dropped the F bomb.  I considered putting the book down then, but I was already into the story and it was a tool to show the extreme emotion of the situation.  

It reminded me of Travelin' Oma's discussion about Mark Twain's colorful language.  How do I feel about swearing as a reader?  Maybe it's hypocritical, but Twain's words discussed had a purpose; they emphasized his point.  Some of Ms. Gilbert's language was also making her point, but more often it was just swearing.  


I was interested an another best seller because so many people said it was so good, even though I didn't know anything about what the book is about.  That one was on Rated Reads, informing me there were about 7 instances of the F word.  Armed with that information I chose not to read it.  Having read Eat, Pray, Love; I wouldn't read it again nor will I be reading the follow up book Committed.  I won't be gushing about the book to my friends; if someone asks, I'll share what I liked along with what I didn't.