Oblong Books in partnership with Bardavon presents a reading and book signing with Elizabeth Gilbert for her new book All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation.
Elizabeth Gilbert’s new memoir confronts the fierce, fragile arc of a love that ultimately frees her. Reconnecting with her best friend Rayya ignited a profound, transformative bond; what followed was a raw, chaotic journey through addiction—Gilbert to love and sex, Rayya to alcohol and drugs—and into Rayya’s terminal illness and heartbreaking death. Gilbert’s recounting is searing and unflinching, including a chilling moment when she contemplated ending Rayya’s life to end mutual suffering.
Spanning seven years of reflective writing, the memoir layers narrative with poetry, sketches, and prayers—creating intimacy through vulnerability and artful fragmentation. Across its roughly 400 pages, Gilbert looks inward with brutal honesty, navigating grief, codependency, recovery, spiritual awakening, and ultimately, the liberation of self-love.
Critics underscore the memoir’s power: Real Simple highlights its introspective exploration of love, loss, and addiction, while Publishers Weekly hails its confessional tone, which confronts darkness without surrendering hope—offering readers struggling with heartbreak or addiction a beacon of wisdom.
This is Gilbert at her most vulnerable and candid—woven with pain, clarity, and ultimately, liberation.
