Rating: 
Summary: A compelling epic
Review: Middlesex is about more than a hermaphrodite. It's the story about how he came to be that way, his familys past. It's about what it was like growing up, knowing something was unusual, but not being sure what. It's about struggling to overcome self-hate.This story was much more than I thought it was going to be. I truly enjoyed the generational stories from his grandparents coming to the US to his parents, falling in love. And most of all I enjoyed Cal's story, his prose, his description, his feelings. This was an extremely well written book. And for anyone who might not think this book is for them because of it's central premise, reconsider. Middlesex really is about so much more. It's about innocence, survival, tragedy, betrayal, inadequacy, lust and love. And if you're from Michigan and the Detroit area, you'll thoroughly enjoy the descriptions of home.
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Summary: I wish I could read this book for the first time again
Review: Jeffrey Eugenides' "Middlesex" is the most entertaining novel to come along since "White Teeth." If you've heard about this book, it's probably because it won a Pulitzer Prize or because, like me, you've had a friend or two recommend it saying "it's the best book you'll ever read about hermaphrodites."
That might put you off, as it almost put me off. But see, that's wrong. Although it's narrated by a hermaphrodite, it's not about hermaphrodites in the way that, say, "Geek Love" was about circus freaks. Instead, it's about this hermaphrodite and her family. We're presented with a three-generation story that combines the precision and acuity of John Updike with the fast-moving sweep and cultural sense of Philip Roth.
Eugenides takes in a lot but doesn't overwhelm. He writes about the expulsion of the Greeks from Turkey after World War I, and you are there, as the old CBS broadcasts used to say. He gives a great sense of the feeling of displacement of immigrants in this country. Most of the book takes place in Detroit and you get a taste of what life was like for the early assembly-line workers and the birth of trade unionism. The book is about Greek Americans but since Eugenides doesn't shy from race you get their perspective on the riots of the 1960s.
To me, once the hermaphrodite takes the stage the book becomes a little less interesting. I was so impressed by Eugenides' writing about family dynamics -- his sensitivity to the women trapped in the house that Betty Friedan would write about, the sense of displacement men can feel when they become fathers. But the hermaphrodites' story, despite its apparent uniqueness, is really just a coming of age story, not so different from hundreds of other stories. It's done well enough but for me his/her story didn't match the story of his/her grandparents.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent AND accessible.
Review: I picked this novel up in an airport bookshop and was stunned just two pages into the book. Poetry, history, comedy and a shimmering narriative thread commanded my attention until I finished the book. What I love about the book is that it doesn't force you into a lot of constipated prose or velied literarly allusions to reward you emotionally and intellectually. If you want to dig for more meaning, however, it's certainly there (e.g., Chapter Eleven, Cal's brother is eventually bankrupt, and her/his name, Calliope -- appropriately, the muse of epic poetry/inspiration). A multi-level read that invites re-reading. My husband's father is Greek and his parents embrace a lot of Greek culture. Culturally, this is so right on the money. It gets more right than it gets wrong and it gives everyone a little "Greekness." Opa! Just because this book opens itself up to you don't judge it as less worthy or less literary. A brave novel and a brave narrator. Bravo!
Rating: 
Summary: The Magnificent "Middle Sex"
Review: Middlesex takes place in suburban Detroit at different times in the last century- The boom of the auto industry and Prohibition in the 1920's, the race riots in the late 1960's, and the splendor of upscale Grosse Pointe in the 1970's. Eugenides' seamless description and tight, clear diction make for a dazzling, illuminated picture of the Motor City in it's heyday. Middlesex is a wonderful novel, every bit deserving of it's 2002 Pulitzer Prize.
The long and beautifully woven storyline of Middlesex begins in a small village in Greece called Bithynios around 1910. Lefty and Desdemona Stephanides find themselves alone in the world after the death of their mother. Living alone together for quite some time, Lefty and Desdemona forge a strong emotional bond. But the Turkish burning of the nearby village of Smyrna along with the lack of eligible bachelorettes in the town push the pair even closer together, and brother and sis ter fall in love and eventually marry.
Two generations later, Callie Stephanides is born. Upon reaching puberty, Callie is diagnosed as a hermaphrodite. Her genetic ambiguity is caused by the consanguinity (mixed blood) of her grandparents, who are siblings, coupled with her mother and father being second cousins. A mutation of her fifth chromosome makes Callie flat-chested, tall, and unable to menstruate at age 14. Confused and somewhat cast out, Callie begins her long and emotional journey toward self-acceptance in her unassuming Greek-Orthodox family.
Our protagonist's journey from the awkward teenage girl "Callie" to the grown man "Cal" touches a nerve in us all, no matter what gender. So smooth and subconscious is Eugenides' description of the mental transformation of Callie to Cal that the reader feels it is almost as natural for Callie to be crossing over as Callie does herself.
A magnificent journey through history and self-acceptance, Middlesex is an absolute joy to read.
Rating:
Summary: Good read!
Review: Eugenides writes in a very pleasing style, the book captured my interest from the very first page. It isn't everyday a preconceptual embryo talks to you! The best attribute of this book is its multidimensionality-instead of focussing on the personal experience, it draws on medicine, history, contemporary & ethnic cultures to narrate an intensely personal story that darts freely between the past and present, I thought this style wonderfully emphasised how tightly the two were intertwined in this story.
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Summary: couldn't put it down
Review: When I picked up the book, I was skeptical but gave it a try since two friends recommended it highly. I was not disappointed --in fact, I had a hard time putting it down. Eugenides' style is right up my alley, it's descriptive, unique and funny. As far is content is concerned, I agree with a previous reviewer who would have liked to read a bit more about Cal's current life in Berlin. I could have easily read a couple hundred pages more of Cal's story. Overall a better than average read.
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Summary: One Of My New Favorites
Review: I love this book! The characters come alive and I found myself totally wrapped up in their stories. Eugenides tells a complicated yet endearing tale of incest, adolescence, and the struggle to belong. I was amazed by Eugenides ability to be the convincing voice of both Cal and Calliope. While the main character and narrator is a hermaphrodite, don't expect a lurid or freakish story... Truly a touching and funny book.
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Summary: The Lessons Life Teaches
Review: I'm only half way through "Middlesex" and it already easy to say that it ranks with "Atonement," "My Fractured Life," and "The Lovely Bones." It is a beautiful meld of the starkness of reality with the otherworldliness of spiritual humanity and lessons life teaches. The story spans multiple generations and each and every era it visits is glorious and special.
Rating: 
Summary: Middlesex: A Novel
Review: It's 1922 in Bithynios, Greece. Lefty and Desdemona Stephanides are brother and sister. They're also in love. Bithynios is being burned to the ground by Ottoman troops. Lefty and Desdemona flee to the port of Smyrna and get on a boat that's heading to the US. On the boat they pretend to meet and fall in love so the captain of the ship will marry them. Which he does. They move to Detriot, where they have family.
Fast foward to 1960. Lefty and Desdemona's grandchild Calliope is born. The book opens with "I was born twice: first, as a baby girl...in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy...in August of 1974." Callie, as he is called then, worries because she hasn't developed breasts or started menstruating; her facial hair is blamed on her ethnicity. She develops a crush on her best girlfriend. Then an accident causes Callie to find out what she's been suspecting - she's not really a girl. The remainder of the story is about Cal's struggle to become a man.
Spanning three generations, eight decades and two continents, the story goes from the small Greek village of Smyrna to the smoggy, crime-filled streets of Detroit, past historical events, and through family secrets.
This was kind of a slow read but I enjoyed it.
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Summary: Shakespeare-like Beauty
Review: This is a great book. Not much like THE VIRGIN SUICIDES in terms of plot, but the author's beautiful use of words is the same. The words have a sing-song beauty that is beyond compare. It is like Shakespeare in beauty but in a dialect that is easily understood. Wow!
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