The only other book I've read by Gilbert was Eat, Pray, Love (shocker!) and I didn't care for it, for the same reason many others did not - it screamed of privilege and I'm not big on those 'stating the obvious' type of self help books. But, oh man, I am so very glad I put that aside to read City of Girls. I have such a hard time getting into the details of why I love a book when I LOVE IT SO MUCH. All the platitudes apply: vivid characters, sweeping sense of place, a propulsive story, etc. etc. At nearly 500 pages I burned through this in just a few days. This coming of age story is reminiscent of one of my long ago favorites: Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk, mashed with a recent favorite: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Gilbert just infuses such beautiful self awareness and 'HELL YEAH' into her characters - it's going into my all time greats, no doubt.
"When I was younger, I had wanted to be at the very center of all the action in New York, but I slowly came to realize that there is no one center. The center is everywhere - wherever people are living out their lives."