Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful Book!
Review: This was a fantastic book! I loved the way that Jeffrey Eugenides explored the way we struggle through adolescents and learn to recognize what we are and develop our own voice and inner strength. I was impressed also with how humorously and poignantly this novel explored the craziness that is a part of all families to some degree. The secrets that we discover along the way about who we are versus who we thought we were, and how we either have to come to grips with the reality or just quit. This book reminded me that I want to be as courageous as the main character becomes in recognizing that true strength comes from loving yourself with all your weirdness and being willing to be honestly vulnerable in order to develop true intimacy with those around you.
Rating: 
Summary: A Gender Confusion Story
Review: 'This year's most sumptuously enjoyable book,' wrote Sunday Times Books of the Year. It is, if English is your native language. Go for it. Even if you are a native English speaker, it demands the highest range of vocabulary. If you are not a bookworm, you won't enjoy reading this book. If you are just buying a book to read on a long flight or bus ride, don't buy this book, buy something shorter and something doesn't require concentration. Middlesex is a 530 page long, complicatedly and complexly written novel. It starts from when grandfather and grandmother of the main character were just falling in love, and ends with the granddaughter, Calliope's (the main character) gender confusion. (...) You grown mustache as a teenage girl and you go to a beauty saloon every week to get it removed? You are unusually taller all the girls who are in your age group? That's the life of Calliope. The beautiful heroine ends up becoming a handsome hero when she/he was fourteen. It is a good story if you understand every single word that is written in the book.
The novel was introduced to me by the professor from my university who teaches English literature. I took the literature class in Spring II semester, 2004. The class was called "the Great Books Seminar." So, students were required to read two great books, first one was Middlesex and the second one was "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie, the winner of the booker prize.
Thank God for the electronic dictionary. I have to look up the words in my e-dictionary at least twenty times each page. Do you only have a paper dictionary, and English is not your native language? Paper dictionaries are good but they are not time savers. I suggest you go buy an e-dictionary before you buy Middlesex. Do you want to know which e-dictionary do I use? It is Houghton Muffin's American Heritage Electronic Dictionary (Just kidding).GOKOOL
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Rating:
Summary: This book truly amazed me!
Review: I knew exactly what to expect when I bought this book. Since I had read The Virgin Suicides and absolutely loved it and I was expecting another amazing novel. And boy I got more than that, I got an astounding novel of epic porportions. Let me just say this, since this was going to be Eugenides sophmore effort I was kind of getting nervous, since many wonderful novelists recent sophmore efforts have received over all negative reviews. This refers to Donna Tart's The Little Friend and Zadie Smith's The Autograph Man. I was getting worried about what would happen to Eugenides. But the reviews have mostly been raves including mine. The story most of you know is about Cal Stephanides and how he once was called Callie by his family. Yes that means Cal is a hermphodite(sorry if the spelling is wrong). Cal begins the story with the story of his Greek grand-parents. Who just happen to be brother and sister. Eugenides takes somewhat taboo subjects such as Hermphodites and makes you feel completely comfortable. Sorry if that sounded bad but I dont know how to describe it but it is just so amazing. I've already read it about two or three times. You need to pick up your copy today. If you like epic stories that involve the American way of life then you will love this book.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful enticing read - couldn't put it down!
Review: This book was recommended to me by a friend. At first, I was intrigued by the story of the Stephanides' family's immigration to the US. But then, the story becomes so interwoven with Cal's life, the history of living in Detroit, life in America, life as an American, issues of gender, love, identity, pride, love, loss, death, birth...it just goes on. This is one intricate tale - told through the heart and eyes of Calliope. I couldn't put it down. The story's poignancy, attention to detail, humor and pain gripped me in a way that most books do not. I was sad when it had to come to an end. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for layers of stories wrapped in an attention-grabbing headline: hermaphrodism.
Rating:
Summary: Intricate
Review: I found this book to be an intricate mixture of Greek culture, history, science, and musings on adolescence and family. I only wish we delved deeper into Cal's mind and emotions throughout the entire process. The author moves the reader throughout the various plots by taking us forward and backward in time simultaneously, which provides a rich experience. I'd recommend reading it in smaller doses to appreciate all the detail.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant writer, captivating story!!! Top Ten Book List!!!
Review: This book ranks up there with my all time favorite "top ten." I could not put it down! It is an incredible, historically based, novel that captures the insecurities of an adolescent in dealing with unbelievably "unfair" life situations. Through telling this story, vividly captures the shades of color that stream through all walks found in society today. This is one of those books, even though it is a substantial read, that I was so disappointed to see it end.
Rating:
Summary: middlesex
Review: this is one of my favorite books of all time. it is the story of a greek-american immigrant family, narrated through the voice of a third generation american family member, who happens to be a hermaphrodite. this book is interesting on many levels (cyprus history, immigrants in america, etc., etc.). for me, the book was an inspiring reminder that every person is a sentient being who deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. eugenides is a wonderful author; every sentence is well-written; every sentence counts. he has a wonderful sense of humor and eye for detail and the book is an absolute joy to read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book-Highly recommended
Review: "Middlesex" is a prolific and poignant piece of work, a memior that deals with male-femal issues. The book is written in such a way that you can easily "detect" Calliope from Cal. The words so clear that you can almost hear the voice changes. I am quite impressed with this book and can truly see the heartbreak that this person had to deal with while trying to grow up "Normal".
Rating:
Summary: An amazing read!
Review: A truly worthy recipient of the Pulitzer, I might say..Euginides does his homework and he fastidiously wants to see to it that the reader is entertained and engaged. What a fascinating read! On drawback: the characters aren't vey interesting people. Some minor ones are...but...these Greeks are very bourgeois...yet the author makes them real and palpable.That is the saving grace and I want to say: the sheer genius of this author. Rich and damned good.
Rating:
Summary: Expertly Imagined
Review: "Middlesex" reads like a modern day Greek Tragedy; exploring concepts of gender, sexuality and identity on a backdrop of Greek mythology and twentieth century Greek and American history. The novel is written in the form of a memoir. The main character and narrator is Calliope. It is no accident that this character shares a name with the Greek Muse who reigns over epic poetry and rhetoric; for Cal is an excellent story teller and Eugenides a clever writer. This well placed symbolism is one of many examples where the author weaves elements of Greek mythology with elements of the characters' reality. Born an intersex child to first generation Greek-American parents, Callie is raised as a girl until a nearly tragic accident exposes her condition. Cal's life story covers his conception, birth, adolescence and rebirth. His story spans continents and travels back in time as he reconstructs his family history in an effort to understand the origin of the gene that reigns over gender and identity. This journey of self discovery starts in 1920s Greece, around the time of the Turkish invasion. Eleutherios (Lefty) and Desdamona, Cal's grandparents, flee from their small village when it was set ablaze by Turkish soldiers. They devise a scheme to gain access to a boat headed for New York City and the freedom that America insinuates. They settle in Detroit during its early motor production heydays. In addition to a silkworm box and cultural traditions from their homeland, Lefty and Desdamona bring to America the secret of their union - not only are they husband and wife but brother and sister as well. As Callie enters adolescence, she becomes dejectedly aware of her late development as a female. As she anxiously awaits the development of breast, she instinctively pursues her desires for the Object of her affections. The longer the delay in the start of her period, the stronger her insecurities with her body and her looks. After a car accident during a summer vacation with the Object and her family, Calliope is rushed to a hospital where doctors notify her parents that she has both male and female genitalia. Militates (Milton) and Theodora (Tessie) are Calliope's parents. Milton is the son of Lefty and Desdamona. Tessie is the daughter of Lefty's and Desdamona's cousin. Upon learning of their daughter's condition, Milton and Tessie take Callie to a gender identity specialist in New York City. Throughout Callie's evaluation by Dr. Luce, she is kept in the dark about the details of the condition being evaluated. After sneaking a look at her medical report when Dr. Luce wasn't present and piecing together bits of information overheard during her examinations, Callie learns the details of her situation and the doctor's recommendation to surgically alter her genitals and physically make her female. This recommendation is based on false information that Calliope provided to Dr. Luce during her psychological evaluations. Unaware that the stories she created to protect herself could in fact destroy her, Callie professed an attraction to boys although her experience with sexuality and her sexual desires were that of a heterosexual male's. The only thing that kept Cal's life from becoming a complete tragedy is his instincts for flight in a situation that would have resulted in the destruction of the self he identified with most; a mutilation of parts that are as natural to him as a penis is to a boy, a vagina to a girl. Cal's instinct for self-preservation fueled his escape from New York City and his subsequent life in San Francisco as a homeless kid, sex club sideshow, and writer. Eugenides demonstrates with clarity, humanity and insight, the complexities of gender, sexuality and identity within the context of a family history, a 1970s middleclass American social construct and an individual spirit. This is storytelling at the height of creativity. "Middlesex" is expertly imagined and is a worthy addition to America's literary canon. Highly Recommended.
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