Book Series Guide
Elizabeth Gilbert

Author guide

Elizabeth Gilbert Books in Order

Elizabeth Gilbert is an American author and journalist whose career spans short fiction, novels, biography, memoir, and books about creativity. Her debut collection, Pilgrims, was followed by the novel Stern Men and the biography The Last American Man. She became internationally known for the memoir Eat, Pray, Love and later published Committed, The Signature of All Things, Big Magic, City of Girls, and All the Way to the River.

literary fictionshort storiesmemoirbiographycreative nonfiction

Catalog record updated .

Elizabeth Gilbert's Newest Book

Cover of All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation

All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation

memoir · First published 2025

In 2000, Elizabeth Gilbert met Rayya. They became friends, then best friends, then inseparable. When tragedy entered their lives, the truth was finally laid bare: The two were in love. They were also a pair of addicts, on a collision course toward catastrophe. What if your most beautiful love story turned into your biggest nightmare? What if the dear friend who taught you so much about your self-destructive tendencies became the unstable partner with whom you disastrously reenacted every one of them? And what if your most devastating heartbreak opened a pathway to your greatest awakening? All the Way to the River is a landmark memoir that will resonate with anyone who has ever been captive to love—or to any other passion, substance, or craving—and who yearns, at long last, for liberation.

Not sure where to begin?

Start with one of these

Cover of Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

The best-known entry point to Gilbert's memoir and nonfiction.

Cover of Pilgrims

Pilgrims

The chronological starting point for her published book-length fiction.

Outside the series

Bibliography by category

Novels (4)
  1. Stern Men

    novel · 2000

    Off the coast of Maine, Ruth Thomas is born into a feud fought for generations by two groups of local lobstermen over fishing rights for the waters that lie between their respective islands. At eighteen, she has returned from boarding…

  2. The Signature of All Things

    novel · 2013

    In The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction, inserting her inimitable voice into an enthralling story of love, adventure, and discovery. Spanning much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the novel follows…

  3. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

    nonfiction · 2015

    Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about…

  4. City of Girls

    novel · 2019

    Told from the perspective of an older woman as she looks back on her youth with both pleasure and regret (but mostly pleasure), City of Girls explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity, as well as the idiosyncrasies of true love.…

Nonfiction (4)
  1. The Last American Man

    biography · 2002

    In this rousing examination of contemporary American male identity, acclaimed author and journalist Elizabeth Gilbert explores the fascinating true story of Eustace Conway. In 1977, at the age of seventeen, Conway left his family's…

  2. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

    memoir · 2006

    This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the…

  3. Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage

    memoir · 2010

    At the end of her memoir Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert fell in love with Felipe, a Brazilian living in Indonesia. The couple swore eternal love, but also swore (as skittish divorce survivors) never to marry. However, providence…

  4. All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation

    memoir · 2025

    In 2000, Elizabeth Gilbert met Rayya. They became friends, then best friends, then inseparable. When tragedy entered their lives, the truth was finally laid bare: The two were in love. They were also a pair of addicts, on a collision…

Short fiction (1)
  1. Pilgrims

    short-story-collection · 1997

    A short story collection written in a tough, dry style follows the fortunes of a diverse group of characters on singularly American pilgrimages, including an East Coast girl who dares a cowboy to whisk her away to the Rocky Mountains. A…

Frequently asked questions about Elizabeth Gilbert

Where was Elizabeth Gilbert born, and what did she study?

Elizabeth Gilbert was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, and grew up on a family Christmas tree farm. She studied political science at New York University.

Source: elizabethgilbert.com (opens in a new tab)

What is Elizabeth Gilbert best known for?

She is best known for her 2006 memoir Eat, Pray, Love, which recounts her travels through Italy, India, and Indonesia after a difficult divorce. The memoir became an international bestseller and was adapted into a film starring Julia Roberts.

Sources: elizabethgilbert.com (opens in a new tab)ted.com (opens in a new tab)

What did Elizabeth Gilbert do before becoming a bestselling author?

Before her major literary success, Gilbert worked as a journalist for publications including Spin, GQ, and The New York Times Magazine. She also worked in bars, diners, and ranches, experiences that informed her writing.

Sources: elizabethgilbert.com (opens in a new tab)nationalbook.org (opens in a new tab)

What influenced Elizabeth Gilbert to become a writer?

Gilbert has said that she wanted to be a writer throughout her life and began writing during childhood. She has particularly credited L. Frank Baum’s Oz books with helping make her both a traveler and a writer.

Source: ideas.ted.com (opens in a new tab)

What major recognition has Elizabeth Gilbert received?

Her nonfiction book The Last American Man was a finalist for the 2002 National Book Award in nonfiction, and she was a three-time finalist for the National Magazine Award. In 2008, TIME included her among its 100 most influential people.

Sources: nationalbook.org (opens in a new tab)elizabethgilbert.com (opens in a new tab)content.time.com (opens in a new tab)