- One of the questions for discussion from the publisher quoted author Gilbert as saying that American is"an entertainment-seeking nation, not necessarily a pleasure-seeking one." Our group agreed, noting how often we feel guilty for "doing nothing" when we should be enjoying a chance for solitude or an attempt to rest and reflect. Europeans, we decided, are much more able to just relax and enjoy when the opportunity presents itself.
- A member commented on the brilliant structure of the book: one chapter for each of the 108 beads on the japa mala, Indian prayer beads. We also decided that the order in which the author visited her countries was well chosen: Italy to eat too much, learn to relax, and gain weight; then India to the ashram where she ate vegetables and brown rice and scrubbed floors--surely an accidental weight-loss program!
- During her stay at the ashram, Gilbert decides to become silent. Her goal is to become"The Quiet Girl." At that point she is assigned the job of Key Hostess, a job where the assignment is to greet new guests and be "social and bubbly and smiling all the time." She must talk! The universe has a sense of humor, and a sense of a person's true personality.
- Another discussion ranged around the author's quest for a word that describes her. She had been told that cities have a defining word: "Rome's word is SEX" for example. She finally decided to choose "Anteavasin" for herself. The word means "one who lives at the border." She sees herself as one who has left her normal life to become a seeker after wisdom, but one who has not yet arrived. The club decided that her word was really one on which she focused in Italy: Attraversiamo. It means "Let's cross over." The two words seem related in meaning.
