I’ve been a fan of Elizabeth Gilbert’s since listening to her narration of Eat Pray Love in the winter of 2012.  Gilbert’s narrative talent is divine on paper; her spoken word is magnificent.

That narrative talent is what got me through The Signature of All Things — not, in my opinion, her finest character/plot accomplishment. BUT THAT VOICE! I am downright envious of  enamored with the way she can convey depth of emotion and imagery in a paragraph. A sentence. A single word.

My latest venture into her memorist-storytelling is already inspiring. Gilbert begins Big Magic with the brief recounting of a remarkable poet’s career — a truly creative soul, a bit different from your average poet/scholar.

“We must risk delight”, he wrote. “We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.”

Here, Gilbert is quoting the poet Jack Gilbert (no relation). A man whose writing…