Rating: 
Summary: No need to finish.
Review: I read this book for my book club and was one of two who actually finished the novel. Not a single member of the club enjoyed it and reviews all around were terrible.
Rating: 
Summary: No wonder it won the Pulitzer
Review: "Middlesex" is an amazing accomplishment, a splendid book which builds beautifully. Jeffery Eugenides has created a serious work of literature which obliquely addresses a controversial topic--the "gender wars"-- by locating his true protagonist as the gene which causes the central conflict in the narrator. The premise of this book could have resulted in a mess of pontification or bathos in lesser hands, but the humanity and good-natured wit of Cal Stephanides seems to resist cooptation by either side of the nature/nurture debate. The narrative voice of this work is unique: a blend of third and first person omniscience, with flourishes taken from the grammar of cinema, and flawless transitions between them. One is left feeling compassion and satisfaction for the narrator and his journey. My two criticisms are slight: one, that we'd have more of the present-day story; and two that the ending seems a little melodramatic...? But I found myself slowing down so that this book wouldn't end--always the best reaction and a testament to Eugenides' power as a storyteller and artist. He finds a perfect balance between artful prose and a compelling story which inspires compassion while touching a common humanity. The best contemporary novel I've read since Thomas Pynchon's "Mason & Dixon" (although it's nothing like that one stylistically).
Rating:
Summary: Middlesex
Review: Here is a whole new perspective! I felt every emotion, all the longings. With each new revelation throughout the story, you feel a new almost learn something about yourself. This is obviously an extremely well-researched book and is a very good life motto in and of itself. I would certainly recommend this novel for anyone who may have this illness or any other AIS related issue along with friends and family who'd like to expound their comprehension of the mechanisms associated with illnesses of this nature.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful story expertly told
Review: I'm not a huge fiction reader, but fell in love with this book when our book club read it earlier this year. Eugenides deftly weaves past, present and future into a compelling narrative that is literally difficult to put down. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: "Middlesex" is a perfect read!
Review: One of the challenges faced by writers is that of making old stories seem new and strange again, and to make ordinary, universal experience seem extraordinary and particular. Jeffrey Eugendies' "Middlesex" is a perfect example of this: superficially, it is the unusual, quirky tale of a hermaphrodite, and yet it captures and illuminates the commonplace trails of growing up and sexual awakening with as much tenderness, accuracy and originality as you'll find in any contemporary coming-of-age novel. This might sound irrelevant, but I came away from this book not so much admiring Jeffrey Eugenides as liking him. "The Virgin Suicides" was a lovely, sad book, but this is far more ambitious - it's a hubristic idea that could have dissolved into a shallow vehicle for cleverness in another writer's hands, and it's a credit to Eugenides' warmth and charm that this doesn't. Eugenides is more interested in character and story than in the nature/nurture question the book inevitably raises; on this, he takes a rather safe middle ground, opting for the free will and self-determination argument. While this makes the book a little less interesting in terms of ideas, it makes it a better novel. Eugendies' greatest assets are his offbeat altruism, his generosity, his humour, and his striking imagination. He knows how to entertain a reader, and he takes care of you throughout this sizeable read, confident that he's tapping a rich vein not only with Callie's tale of gender but with the background story of a Greek family across generations and recent American history captured via the prism of Detroit. But it is with Callie's early adolescence that this book really shines, especially in Eugenides' descriptions of her love affair with the Object - here is Eugenides' best prose, fertile, supple and evocative, clearly fired by its subject, and remarkably androgynous. While the book sags in certain parts, and occasionally falters in its own high-wire act (I found it sometimes a bit hard to picture Callie the Man after Callie the adolescent girl was so real; but then, that's forgivable, considering the enormous difficulty of such an undertaking), it's these passages that illuminate just what a feat of imaginative empathy Eugendies has achieved with "Middlesex." I'd recommend it to anyone. If you like conspiracy books Here are a few. Having read the TOP books in the Government Cover-up Genre; "Unconventional Flying Objects" (NASA UFO Investigator for 30 years) by the scientist Dr. Paul Hill; my FAVORITE is "Alien Rapture" by Brad Steiger and Edgar Fouche (Top Secret Black Programs Insider) - (Great fiction-soon to be a movie); "Alien Agenda" by the best selling author of 'Crossfire' Jim Marrs (Best reference on UFOlogy); and "The Day After Roswell," by Colonel Corso - I'd say these books are a MUST READ also!
Rating: 
Summary: A fantastic novel
Review: This is a fantastic novel by Jeffrey Eugenides. The physical and mental struggle of Calliope is perfectly depicted. Although it is a story, it is very close to real life. It could happen to any family. As i went through the book , I had a feeling that Cal was sitting in front of me and relating her life story. Seeing oneself as a girl till teenage and then preparing oneself mentally and physically as a man, is truly a painful experience and Eugenides has been successful in making the readers feel the pain and experience the struggle of Cal, through his writings and usage of heart touching dialouges.
Rating:
Summary: does not
Review: Middlesex is a book full of complex characters. the shift of the novel from the present to the past is very good. however, the novel does not offer satisfactory reading. the concept of the novel is very good but does not offer the reader any scope to think aobut how calliope feels. the book does not have any underlining moral. the book is just an entertainer, which does not even entertain. in such a situation, it would be ideal to think aobut how the society treats calliope as a girl and later as a boy. however, euginides does not tell the reader anything aobut that. it does not even seem that the book has any point to make. overall, if you have seriously nothing better to do, you might want to read this book. but if you are looking for a sample of some good literature, please do not read this book, for your own sake.
Rating:
Summary: intelligent written, attention grabber
Review: To start with, this book is quite longer than it should be but then again one can't explain on this when one find him/herself going through this book non-stop. It's so hard to put it down. If I don't have class or homeworks to do, I would just sit there and read it through. I've never read books by this author before but his writing style really grabs me. The book is cleverly written with good selection of vocabularies. For someone from other country like me, I find it very difficult to deal with those vocabularies but they help me learn big words. I would recommend this book to everyone. Don't miss it.
Rating:
Summary: Surprise and enjoy!!!
Review: I enjoyed reading since i started until finishing this book. Everything seemed to be very strange as an Asian student like me about Western culture.. When I finished one chapter...it really gave me an inspration to think what's next in the next chapter..The most interesting part for me is the conclusion.. Book four... in which Cal decided to become a boy and live for the rest of her life as a boy... I also didn't expect that Father Mike will do bad thing to Milton... Why Cal was born like ?...this is a mysterious part for the whole book .... because it was hidden until the last chapter....And I've never heard of a person who has both male and female sexual organs like Cal....It's really a big surprise for me..
The book gave me much information about Western culture in which people dare to live for themselves...they face with their personal problem like sexual intercoures...In my cuture...Myanmar ..it's very rule and everybody avoids to talk about it although it's reality in our life....I have to say thanks for what I had known from this useful book because it gave me fresh and reality view that will affect my thinking for a long time later...I will recommend this book to my friends in Myanmar because I want them to understand about the reality...sexual..gender...and so many things...
Rating:
Summary: Middlesex
Review: "Hermaphrodite- 1. One having the sex organs and many of the secondary sex characteristics of both male and female. 2. Anything comprised of a combination of diverse or contradictory elements. See synonyms at MONSTER."
Calliope Stephanides is a "monster." He is a hermaphrodite. Jeffrey Eugenides, best-selling author of The Virgin Suicides, introduces us to the inbred Cal. Callie. We are invited into the complex life of a man raised as a woman. However, before bringing us in too close, we must understand his history.
The first half of the novel brings to light the incestuous, shameful, past of Cal's Greek American family. Journeying through three generations of luck and chance, this saga of a dysfunctional family is utterly satisfying in its realism. Cal vividly illustrates the chaotic past from which he immerged, with intelligence, and an amusing dark humor. The blend of historical accuracy as well as raw emotion proves a clever combination of both fact and fiction. Eugenide's intense detail is fulfilling, but at times a bit excessive. However, this is a minor flaw in an otherwise extraordinary book.
The remainder of the novel is devoted to the complicated world of Cal. Eugenides captures the essence of Cal's femininity, as well as his transformation into masculinity with both wit, and a harsh truth. As Cal fights his sexual and emotional battles, it's an amazing experience to be along for the ride. The conclusion of the novel leaves you content, but at any opportunity you would open the door again. A door revealing page 578 of "Genetics and Heredity", naked beside a height chart, a black box covering his eyes, stands Cal, a two-dimensional photograph.
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