Halfway through India, Elizabeth starts to shed her self-absorption and the book becomes a fairly tolerable read. By the end, she’d more or less won me over, and I admired her quest to learn to live more effectively, for herself and others around her.

At the same time, her premeditated and well-financed ability to have such an adventure in the first place makes it largely out of the realm of possibility for most people experiencing similar personal crises. It bewilders me a bit that so many readers felt a connection to this rather rarified story.