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Original Essays | December 12, 2009

Alexander McCall Smith: IMG The Courage of Others



I have recently written a novel about life in England during the Second World War. I felt some concern before I tackled this theme — the War... Continue »
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    La's Orchestra Saves the World

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Middlesex (Oprah's Book Club Selection #58)

by Jeffrey Eugenides

Middlesex (Oprah's Book Club Selection #58) Cover

Awards

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

"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 drivers 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.

Review:

"Middlesex vibrates with wit....A virtuosic combination of elegy, sociohistorical study, and picaresque adventure: altogether irrestistable." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"[A]n uproarious epic, at once funny and sad, about misplaced identities and family secrets....Mr. Eugenides has a keen sociological eye for 20th-century American life." Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

Review:

"Middlesex isn't just a respectable sophomore effort; it's a towering achievement, and it can now be stated unequivocally that Eugenides' initial triumph wasn't a one-off or a fluke. He has emerged as the great American writer that many of us suspected him of being." Jeff Turrentine, The Los Angeles Times

Review:

"It's a gas, a romp, the cat's pajamas....The convolutions of the novel's plot, its big gestures, its deftly handled threads of imagery and symbolism and its wealth of detail combine to produce a largely delightful read." Bethany Schneider, New York Newsday

Review:

"[I]t's off proportionally, both section-to-section and overall, its two halves at odds, each interesting at times but neither truly satisfying, despite Eugenides's prodigious talent. Like Cal, it's damned by its own abundance, not quite sure what it wants to be." Stewart O'Nan, Atlantic Monthly (read the entire Atlantic review)

Review:

"Here's your heads-up....Yes, it's that good....A novel of chance, family, sex, surgery, and America, it contains multitudes." Jonathan Miles, Men's Journal

Synopsis:

The Pulitzer Prize-winning story of Calliope Stephanides and three generations of the Greek-American family who travel from a tiny village. Calliope is not like other girls and must 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.

About the Author

Jeffrey Eugenides was born in Detroit and attended Brown and Stanford Universities. His first novel, The Virgin Suicides, was published by Farrar, Straus, & Giroux to great acclaim in 1993, and he has received numerous awards for his work.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Lucy Little, August 20, 2007 (view all comments by Lucy Little)
Not a favorite for me, but I know many members of my book club liked it. The main character is born with ambiguous genitalia, but as was done historically, was assigned a gender. The story is well written, especially descriptions of supporting characters, extended family and locations. I liked the main character in the end, but couldn't quite reconcile him/her with the character she/he was in the beginning. It seemed like two different people, but then again, maybe that was the point?
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780312427733
Author:
Eugenides, Jeffrey
Publisher:
Picador USA
Location:
New York
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
General Fiction
Subject:
Teenagers
Subject:
Gender identity
Subject:
Domestic fiction
Edition Description:
Paperback
Series:
Oprah's Book Club
Publication Date:
June 2007
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
529
Dimensions:
8.35x5.51x.91 in. .89 lbs.

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