I'm Greta Johnson, I'm Trisha Bobita, and from WBEZ in Chicago, this is Nerdette.

This week, author Elizabeth Gilbert, on why she went back in time and into the dirt

for her latest novel about a polite botanist.

And then we'll talk to a plant expert who knows there's no such thing as polite botany.

All that plus a scatological nerd confession.

On this week's Nerdette.

I'm Greta Johnson, and I'm Trisha Bobita.

Elizabeth Gilbert is probably best known for her memoir Eat Pray Love, but she's also

written several novels.

And she's responsible for the movie Coyote Ugly, which I love.

No, I really, I'm not kidding, I love that movie.

Really?

Yes.

She's also done a couple of TED Talks, both about navigating the world as a creative

thinker.

Eat Pray Love sold more than 10 million copies and became a giant movie.

So what comes next for a writer after that kind of success?

Everything's like corgis and ferries in old-timey botany.

My parents did this trick on us when we were kids, which was that we always had chores

and work and stuff that we had to do around the property and around the farm.

And idol miss was not permitted.

So if you were ever caught being idol, you were immediately put to work.

...