Middlesex: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
Publisher: Picador
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  846 reviews
Sales Rank: 12284
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 544
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0312422156
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780312422158
ASIN: 0312422156
Publication Date: September 16, 2002
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Amazon.com
"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974." And so begins Middlesex, the mesmerizing saga of a near-mythic Greek American family and the "roller-coaster ride of a single gene through time." The odd but utterly believable story of Cal Stephanides, and how this 41-year-old hermaphrodite was raised as Calliope, is at the tender heart of this long-awaited second novel from Jeffrey Eugenides, whose elegant and haunting 1993 debut, The Virgin Suicides, remains one of the finest first novels of recent memory. Eugenides weaves together a kaleidoscopic narrative spanning 80 years of a stained family history, from a fateful incestuous union in a small town in early 1920s Asia Minor to Prohibition-era Detroit; from the early days of Ford Motors to the heated 1967 race riots; from the tony suburbs of Grosse Pointe and a confusing, aching adolescent love story to modern-day Berlin. Eugenides's command of the narrative is astonishing. He balances Cal/Callie's shifting voices convincingly, spinning this strange and often unsettling story with intelligence, insight, and generous amounts of humor: Emotions, in my experience aren't covered by single words. I don't believe in "sadness," "joy," or "regret." … I'd like to have at my disposal complicated hybrid emotions, Germanic traincar constructions like, say, "the happiness that attends disaster." Or: "the disappointment of sleeping with one's fantasy." ... I'd like to have a word for "the sadness inspired by failing restaurants" as well as for "the excitement of getting a room with a minibar." I've never had the right words to describe my life, and now that I've entered my story, I need them more than ever. When you get to the end of this splendorous book, when you suddenly realize that after hundreds of pages you have only a few more left to turn over, you'll experience a quick pang of regret knowing that your time with Cal is coming to a close, and you may even resist finishing it--putting it aside for an hour or two, or maybe overnight--just so that this wondrous, magical novel might never end. --Brad Thomas Parsons
Product Description
"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974. . . My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen Stephanides. My most recent driver’s license...records my first name simply as Cal."So begins the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Prohibition-era Detroit, witnessing its glory days as the Motor City, and the race riots of l967, before they move out to the tree-lined streets of suburban Grosse Pointe, Michigan. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, Middlesex is an exhilarating reinvention of the American epic.
Download Description
Spanning across eight decades--and one unusually awkward adolescence - Jeffrey Eugenides' long-awaited second novel is a grand, utterly original fable of crossed bloodlines, the intricacies of gender, and the deep, untidy promptings of desire.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 841 more reviews...
 Marvelous novel September 7, 2008
Read this book a few years ago - and for some reason Amazon deleted my review.
While not a fan of his first novel, I find that Eugenides wrote a captivating tale - one tries to avoid terms like "coming of age" but when the story is told so creatively, woven into history, with such unique circumstance - and such emotional honesty, the novel exceeds generalizations.
Fascinating Story September 5, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I enjoyed this book from start to finish. It is a "meaty" story, filled with the history of the characters. There is also enough fact as to be educational and thought-provoking.
Fabulous Work of Entertaining Literature September 2, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I must preface my remarks by admitting that I am, apparently, a literary phillistine. Most works of acclaimed literature fail to interest me and prove to be a slog to get through. I am left wondering whether I am somehow unequipped to appreciate fine literature, or whether, in fact, the Emperor is wearing no clothes. Suffice it to say, when reading for pleasure, I rarely gravitate to the classics or Pulitzer prize winners.
That said, it is a real pleasure when I can find myself truly enjoying what is considered a great work of literature. At such times, I begin to believe there may be hope for me after all. Such was the case with Cold Mountain, Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns and most recently, Middlesex.
This novel weaves a fascinating tale, in three distinct threads, through the eyes and emotions of a hermaphrodite. The story begins through the narration of a now middle aged foreign service bureaucrat, Cal Stephanides. Cal was born a "female", but upon reaching puberty, began demonstrating the secondary sexual characteristics of a male. The story then reverts to Cal's grandparents as they immigrate from a war torn Asia Minor. From that point, the story flows smoothly back and forth from the ancestors, to Cal's (Calliope's) childhood and to the present day in a surprisingly seemless fashion.
The story is gripping, both for the history imparted (most particularly Turko-Greek relations in Asia Minor in the post WWI years and the growth and decay of Detroit) as well as for the lives of the primary characters. A minor thread touching upon the foundation of the Nation of Islam in Detroit is particularly entertaining. And throughout, the writing is extraordinary without being oppressively dense.
When reading a book of this quality, I'm constantly reminded that, at least in my opinion, the underlying essence of a good book lies in the artistic telling of a captivating story. The finest writing on the planet cannot cover for a story that either goes nowhere or is simply boring (Suite Francaise comes immediately to mind). This fine novel has both, outstanding writing and a fascinating story with which to demonstrate it. Highly recommended.
 Great writer, but yet September 1, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
There were so many times in this book where I had to go back and reread a line for its beauty/truth; also times where I literally laughed out loud. In fact, I often read passages outloud to my reading-disinterested husband.
Overall, I loved it. But for sure there were whole sections where I found myself impatient and frustrated by the infernal cleverness of the writer. He is certainly funny, and often profound, but I often felt as if the author teased his readers for far too long---and barely satisfied when it came time to deliver on his 500 page promise.
That said, I would certainly recommend reading it. There are just too many gems, too much good writing to pass up. I will certainly read the Virgin Suicides----only sorry I saw that particular story first.
great book August 28, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
i do not like oprah. but she reccommended this book and i said what the hell. it is a great read. funny, touching and totally engrossing. dont listen to what oprah says read it yourself
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