10 Questions for Elizabeth Gilbert

She's eaten, prayed and loved. So now the writer is publishing a history of botany, of course

Erik Tanner for TIME

Your book The Signature of All Things is a novel. Why fiction?
I already did the hardest homework assignment of my life: I wrote the book that came after Eat, Pray, Love . I'd never felt more free as a writer once Committed was finished. It was time to write a novel and to go big with it.

The book's name refers to a theory that there's a divine imprint on everything. Do you have sympathy for that view?
I have a great deal of sympathy for any cockamamie theory that tries to find meaning in randomness. It was an...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!