Can I hear a “squee!”? Elizabeth Gilbert’s new book comes out next week. Ok, maybe you didn’t love “Eat, Pray Love” for one of several valid reasons, but I’m a fan. As someone who’s working on a memoir, I especially admire how easy Gilbert made it look–the great effort it takes to be effortlessly engaging, alive, smart, fun, and soulful.

Of course the pressure is on for the latest, dropping on January 5th, 2010: “Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage.” As a fellow writer and fan of her voice, I personally don’t need it to “measure up” to EPL so much. I’m mostly just excited and curious to dive back in with her. Kind of like my dizzy ecstacy at getting to read the new Mary Karr book, Lit (she made me realize how and what I wanted to write), which is a little flawed, and a lot brilliant and a highly recommended read. 

For “squee!” part two, Audible Live is hosting a free, live audio chat with Gilbert through Facebook on Monday, January 4th. You can go here for more info.

Here’s the Amazon link to pre-order Committed.

 And also, I’ve posted this before, but Gilbert’s TED talk on creative genius (and her struggles with writing this new book) is incredibly inspiring, so here ya go.

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