READING HALL IV

Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love: One Woman's Search for Everything (London: Bloomsbury, 2006, 2007) ("For the longest time, against counsel of all who cared about me, I resisted even consulting a lawyer, because I considered even that to be an act of war. I wanted to be all Gandhi about this. I wanted to be all Nelson Mandela about this. Not realizing at the time that both Gandhi and Mandela were lawyers." Id. at 18. On the meaning of 'soul mate': "Your problem is you don't understand what that word means. People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. And thank God for it. Your problem is, you just can't let this one go. It's over.... Problem is, you can't accept that this relationship had a real short shelf life...." Id. at 157-158. "'Honey--Ray Charles could see your control issues.'" Id. at 159.).

Barbara Gowdy, The White Bone: A Novel (New York: Picador, 1998) (From the backcover: "The White Bone is a magnificent feat of imagination. Told from the perspective of a young elephant named Mud, it tracks the elephant herd's quest across the dry African plains in search of the White Bone, an object of mythic power that may lead them to safety and survival.").

Sara Gruen, Ape House: A Novel (New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2010).

Sara Gruen, Flying Changes: A Novel (New York: HarperTorch, 2005) ("Do they really have to put anti-theft devices on the babies? Are there people really sick enough to steal sick babies? As we pass between flat white panels that look for all the world like devices at the doors of most clothing stores, I realize there must be." Id. at 294-295.).

Sara Gruen, Riding Lessons: A Novel (New York; Harper, 2004).

Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants: A Novel (Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2006) (Sometimes I think that if I had to choose between an ear of corn or making love to a woman, I'd choose the corn. Not that I wouldn't love to have a final roll in the hay--I am a man yet, and some things never die--but the thought of those sweet kernels bursting between my teeth sure set my mouth to watering. It's fantasy, I know that. Neither will happen. I just like to weigh the options, as though I were standing in front of Solomon: a final roll in the hay or an ear of corn, What a wonderful dilemma. Sometimes I substitute an apple for corn." Id. at 8.).

Cyndi Lee, May I Be Happy: A Memoir of Love, Yoga, and Changing My Mind (New York: Dutton, 2013).