Eat, copy, love.
I read it. I thought it was okay. I mostly enjoyed two out of three of the countries she covered. (Haven’t seen the movie yet.) I like Elizabeth Gilbert. Her Ted Talk on creativity is totally worth downloading and watching. It’s 19:29 minutes that you won’t regret.
But I just saw this:
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| BLURB: He’s been tracking down others like him, and rescued 3 young orphans who now consider Carlos their father. He’s determined to give them a home, which means finding a bride. His criteria: she just needs to be a shape shifter, like him. |
An ad to say that this new book is now available from Kalahari.net, just landed in my inbox.
I can’t put my finger on why it irked me. Perhaps they’re trying to piggyback on the phenomenal sales success of Elizabeth Gilbert’s book? I feel sad for the housewife who picks up this version by mistake, and wonders what all the fuss was about, or doesn’t understand why the book was nothing at all like the movie.
According to kalahari.net, Kerrelyn Sparks is the New York Times Bestselling author of the Love at Stake series. her heroes are generally fanged or furry, but never suffer from cavities or fur balls. And in spite of a tendency to nibble or howl at the moon, they’re still wonderfully romantic.
So it’s a romantic vampire, shape shifter, sci-fi adventure?
Just like Eat, Pray, Love, then.
Now this kind of spoofing I totally get. I think it’s clever, and relevant, and a nice gimmick, and pays homage to the genre, even if it is in a bloody and slightly over the top, silly way.
But Eat, Prey, Love? C’mon, really?
Am I making much ado over nothing? I can’t decide.
No.
Nope. Eat Prey Love is a cheap shot – nothing to do with paying homage – and all about piggybacking on Gilbert’s success.