In case people think the comparison is meant as a compliment, it's not. This book had the same annoying way of coming up with coincidences that put people in the middle of "supposedly" historical occurrences. Just as I couldn't finish watching the movie, I couldn't finish reading this book. The characters and events were bland, and the magical realism didn't work.

I couldn't understand why this book is so popular until I started reading the reviews and found out that it's an Oprah's Book Club selection. The copy I have doesn't have her logo. The logo is for me is an automatic indication that a book is going to be cheesy and poorly written.

If you want to read excellent Greek tragedies about an incestuous relationship and its result, I suggest reading "Oedipus" and "Antigone" by Sophocles.

I purchased the book because of the Big O stamp of approval and found myself struggling to get through it.The history was somewhat interesting but the characters never seemed real to me, or maybe not compelling. I left it at the vacation rental, maybe someone else will enjoy it but I wont takes Oprah's recommendations so seriously now.

Well written, interesting, and easy to read. The story is even good, its just that it never had any real climax to it. Sort of like an old western that kept promising something exciting but it never panned out.

Killer book! Starts with a kind of lengthy backstory in Greece, but I actually liked that part a lot. I recommend this to anyone interested in LGBT, or anyone who just wants an interesting and entertaining read.

This is a fantastic novel. A beatifully written, honest look at a slice of the world the is kept hidden from society.

What a tease. Have you ever felt like you were teased for so long that the payoff just wasn't as good as the windup? Middlesex teased me for so long, flirted with me, that when the big bang came, I sat there wishing we were still flirting.

That being said, Jeffrey Eugenides is a beautiful writer. I could taste the Greek air and smell the sour streets of Detroit.

The issues in this book were handled with respect, and Eugenides allowed the world's true perceptions to seep in through the character's description of himself.

I am a pediatric urology nurse by profession. Intersex was a specialty of the physician I worked with for years. These days, ambiguous genitalia is treated with a great deal of care, compassion and concern. There is a supreme effort at identifying the correct genetic disposition of children too inky to be dinky and to dinky to be inky at birth. Whole courses are taught about it. And despite what the Society for Hermaphrodites with an attitude say, medical professionals try their best not to gender assign someone based on what they think best.

That said, this work of fiction was a great read. I read it when it first came out, and again when I was given a copy years later. I also loved the family history and the glimpse into Greek America, of a sort.

I really enjoyed the historical aspect of the book - Detroit through most of the 1900's, Turkey and Greece in the early 1900's. I also learned a lot and it made me much more sympathetic to gender issues brought out in the book. Having said that I wish it could have been about 200 pages shorter. I found myself plodding through it at times. I thought the story of the grandparents could have been condensed to about 50 pages but it went on and on and on. I also could have done without some of the detail at the San Francisco peep show. The ick factor at times was just way too high for me.

Kudos to the author on what must have been an incredible amount of research.

After hearing the mention of this book on Oprah's show, I decided to purchase it. I'm not a big book reader, but I couldn't put it down. I took it everywhere with me for two weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. Now, I'm trying to decide who I will pass it along too.

This was an amazing book. Eugenides tells a sprawling tale of the Stephanides family told from the perspective of a hermaphrodite (Cal) to explain the sequence of events that led him to become the person that he is. It is riveting from the second Eugenides begins in Turkey with Cal's grandparents childhood to the conclusion of the narrative in Berlin. At the same time funny, touching, and heart-breaking this book provides a level of humanity not seen in much literature today.

I can't review something I have not yet received. It has been over 30 days and the book has not yet arrived.

If you like incestual relationships, this may be the book for you. Half the book is family history and deals with the grandparents incestual relationship and then the parents semi-incestual relationship. It isn't described as a particularly bad thing that a brother and sister get married and you will even have to endure "sex scenes" between the two. It then insults people who actually are intersex by giving the impression that the incest is what caused the baby to be born that way.
The book doesn't get around to the story of Cal who is supposedly the main character. I was really looking forward to reading about Cal and his life which would have been fascinating. Instead I got a ton of boring family history that has nothing to do with the life of the main character, complete with a ton of useless crap, like the grandmothers ovulation and the fathers wierd relationship with his cousin in which he gives her thrills by touching her with his clarinet. It is actually a little disturbing.
I don't know why pulitzer or Oprah thought this book was so good. I am quite confused.

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.

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.

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.

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 read. Gave a new perspective on a "hidden" human issue that society prefers to ignore.

This book is wonderfully written. There's so much into it that you will never want to skim through any paragraph!

First Eugenides seems to have stolen the life stories of quite a few actual "intersex" people (or choose your term). Then he manages to insult the very people whose life stories he has swiped by offering the most grotesque happy Hollywood ending of all time. It's magic! He read his file and escaped genital mutilation! A miracle that, by the way, freed Eugenides from having to do anything more than cobble together the life stories of a few actual intersex people, tack on loads of meaningless and preposterously dull family history that, ultimately, does not move forward the plot, the themes, or the character development, and then tie it all up with a bow.

In real life, intersex individuals born in the 20th century were, as a matter of routine, genitally mutilated and left without sensation or without appropriate genitalia for the gender with which they ultimately identified. Many of these people lived terrible lives that ended badly---in suicide and despair. At best, they lived heroic lives of overcoming the necessity of keeping secret a fundamental truth about themselves.

These themes deserve to be explored. These themes are interesting and brave. Mining the juicy, prurient bits of the life stories of people who suffered through their lives is nothing but cowardice. Craven opportunism. Exploitation.

On top of all that, stylistically the book was just dull. I agree with other posters in that this author is striving to be a Roth and falls well short of the mark. Apparently Pulitzer and Oprah don't care about this, and I've also heard that the intersex community (if there is such a thing) are pleased with the book. Or, at least those that Oprah invited onto her show.

Might as well read it, though. Then you can [...] about it at parties, just like me!

AMAZING. This pulitzer-prize winning novel follows 3 generations of a Greek/Greek American family. The narrator is Callie/Cal, amazing, heartbreaking, super funny storyteller and hermaphrodite. A must for anyone who appreciates fantastic comic timing, loads of literary allusions, a moving narrative, and/or thinking about the "reliability" of the narrator as he reports/constructs the lives of his grandparents, parents and himself. A MUST-READ!!!

I'm glad I bought it for half price from an Amazon seller. I listened to the first CD and it bored and depressed me. Too much family history exposition, not enough about the main character. Who cares about his mother's ovulation cycle and that thermometer? Who cares about the Grandma and her predictions? Why does the author keep at the "Chapter 11" joke? Doesn't the brother have an actual name? Humor ineffective. I gave up on it early and sold it as quickly as possible to another Amazon buyer. Good thing we have Philip Roth.

Middlesex is built on the recurring theme of familial relationships informed by war and mayhem. It's flush with history that's relevant to the characters' experiences and that brings a little reality to some unbelievable plot moments. The story idea is new - Calliope is the most entertaining gender-defiant person since Myra Breckinridge. Yes, there's a lot to like about this book. But, the lengthy, albeit well-researched medical science, makes for laborious reading. And, except for Calliope, the center of the story, the characters are pretty flat. Although the adult Cal tells much of the story from her (now his) childhood perspective, I never heard the child's voice. As in most real-life family situations, there is dark humor here; yet, there is too little laughter to take Middlesex beyond an awareness that it's fiction.

This is not a novel of perversion, but one of explanation, family devotion, ethnic description, historical perspective, and truly BREATHTAKING writing.
It will be difficult to find a book to read after finishing this astonishing novel.
My other favorite book about sex, love and self help is:I Love You. Now What?: Falling in Love is a Mystery, Keeping It Isn't

This is a story about three generations of the Stephanides family. Told by a very interesting person Cal Stephanides.

The first generation is Cal's grandmother Desdemona Stephanides. She lives with her brother Lefty in a small town in Turkey that was traditionally Greek. She raises silk worms and he sells the silk in the nearby town. Their parents were killed earlier and they try to fight an attraction that they have to each other. When the Turks invade they decide to go to Smyrna then on to Athens and America to live with their cousin Lina. While in Smyrna they get stuck when the Turks set fire to the city. During this time Lefty asked Desdemona to marry him if they survive. They are able to get out by pretending that they are French and manage to get on a ship. On the ship they pretend that they do not know each other and eventually get married. They arrive in Detroit to live with their cousin Lina and her husband Jimmy Zizmo. While they live with the Zizmo's Lefty works for Henry Ford, gets drown into Jimmy's bootlegging schemes and both Lina and Desdemona get pregnant on the same night, and soon after the birth of Lina's baby daughter Jimmy disappears.

For the first couple years of Milton Stephanides and Theodora (Tessie) Zizmo's lives they are raised together in the same house. Then Lina and Tessie move nearby. As they grow up they are still close (Tessie calls Milton's sister Zoe her daughter at first and spends a lot of time with the family growing up) Then when they are teenagers they find themselves attracted to each other. Milton plays an instrument and uses it to seduce Tessie even though she is involved with Mike, a minister in training at the local Greek Orthodox seminary. Tessie and Mike get engaged and Milt is not happy, so he enlists in the navy during WWII. While Milt is serving Tessie realizes that she loves him and shortly afterward they get married.

Calliope Helen Stephanides was born about 15 years after "her" parents marriage and five years after th birth of her brother Chapter Eleven. She thinks herself a normal girl besides the practice kissing with a friend when she was in Elementary School and the girl she befriends whom she calls "The Object" as in the object of her affections. They spend a lot of time together the summer they are 14, and despite loosing her virginity to the objects brother commence on an affair. Shortly afterwards Callie is injured and the doctors find something fascinating. This leads Milt, Tessie and Callie to Dr. Lucas in NYC. What they find there is that Calliope is genetically a male, but is missing something on the fifth chromosome that makes him look like a female. After some miss understandings Callie becomes Cal and runs away leading to some very interesting adventures and experiences for the family.

All this is told by a 41 year old Cal, who is involved in the foreign service and lives in current day Germany.

A very well written interesting story that catches you from the very first sentence.

I couldn't stop reading this book. Wonderfully drawn, unique characters, great time/place, beautifully written. And although the premise sounds like something behind a "freak" book--there's nothing freaky here--all true, vivid, touching, humane.

this book is very educational, or at least it triggered in me the desire to research the topic of hermaphrodite....i've heard about the topic before, but with this book i actually research and educated myself on this birth defect....on the downside, i think that eugenides could have convey his message with less writing....overall, it was a good read.

It is true. I was turned off by the first sentence. I even thought about not reading the story. I decided I would give it more time and I am glad I did. This is a great story with many twists and turns. I would not recommend it to a conservative reader with high moral back bone because you are sure to find it more distrubing than enjoyable. If you are open to anything written well and willing to take the ride that a good book can give I highly suggest you strap on your seat belt and hit the gas.

Eugenides attempts to make too much of too little plot and he shrouds this shortcoming in lengthy (and sometimes impressive) research ability. The Desdemona/Lefty backstory, while interesting, is not at all important to the purpose or direction of the novel and this reader feels as if the entire opening 200 pages could have been dropped to make this a much better read. As much as Euginedes feels like he needs to write a very lengthy, epic novel, he does not succeed but for the fact that he won a pulitzer as a result of such a poor year for fiction. The book is not terrible on the whole but it is not entirely engaging as popular belief would suggest.

I can't believe this book is a book club selection for my library. It's a long boring rambling ridiculous story that I attemped to read 2 years ago and could not even finish. Why does it still keep popping up?? I think its fame alone is keeping it famous, though its actual content is not worthy. I guess it has become a fashion item, with the momentum of any arbitrary, mindless fashion trend. Let's break this trend and stop making our kids read this thing! There are better books to read.

I enjoy reading this novel, but it would be a lot better told from a different (consistent) perspective. The mingling of 1st person narrative with an omniscient narrator jars me from my belief in the story. Also the characterization is pretty loose and 2D. These are not very convincing people - they're more like minor characters on television. For a much better book with some similarities in the story line (immigrant families, race mingling in the lower classes, a period covering the early to the late 20th century)I recommend I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb, which is an amazing book and far superior to this one, which is more dependent on its gimmicky hero/heroine and basically just a fun read at best.

A fine novel with assimilation of immigrants (When they still did that) Family problems and a lead character which has the problem of being a hermaphrodite. It may sound silly but the whole story is loaded with Soul. Having grown up in Detroit on the East side it was all understanding to me with Indian Village, Grosse Pointe, and all of Detroit featured as background. It seems to a point like every familys story with a little more thrown in. I highly recommend this book. You will not waste your time reading it.

I expected so much from this book! People at my book club RAVED about it. I trudged through it, expecting it to get better, and it finally did--in the last quarter of the book. Why did I have to trudge through 350 pages of Greek history to get to the meat of the book? I don't get it, and I certainly don't get what makes this book Pulitzer-worthy.

This book has a large mid book lull. For me it started out great and I enjoyed the background material from the "Old Country". Then in mid book I nearly gave up finishing. Glad I didnt, because it picked up speed nearing page 291, and actually I suppose a person could start reading on page 291 to get most of the points of the book. I however, did enjoy the initial setting of the plot. And how many people are voting on the author actually being Cal?

On the surface, a story about a Greek-American hermaphrodite. Calliope/Cal narrates this tale of birth and rebirth.

Cal describes the family history and traces the journey of a rare, recessive gene over about 80 years. Cal's grandparents flee from their burning home in a small village in Turkey. Desdemona and Lefty, brother and sister, reinvent themselves during their journey to America and get married. When their son marries his cousin, two recessive genes collide. The result? Calliope, raised as a girl until an emergency room doctor notices something different about her. A visit to a famous specialist in New York sets Calliope on a completely new path and she is reborn as Cal.

Excellent character development and the intricate details of Cal's convoluted family history will keep readers turning pages. The normal adolescent angst and sexual exploration take on a whole new dimension, yet these issues are handled with grace, sensitivity, and, often, humor.

I did not expect to like this book, as it was on my "have to read" list, rather than the "want to read" list. Nevertheless, Cal's story grabbed me from the very first lines. Excellent read.

I drive 2 hours round trip each day to work. As such, I listen to LOTS of audio books. Middlesex was a treat!!! The story itself is beautiful, but it really comes alive with the narrator's depiction of the characters.

If the book is too big and time is too short, try the audio version. You won't be sorry!!

This is a compelling and epic tale. I thoroughly enjoyed Eugenides sweeping narrative about Greek immigrants and their offspring. Although his tale has a decidedly unusual bend, I think that anyone who has heard the tales their grandparents and great-grandparents have told about coming to America will enjoy this book, regardless of their nationality. Much of the story is universal in its description of the European immigration experience and subsequent assimilation into the American way of life. Eugenides characterizations are three dimensional and sympathetic, and the story is both engrossing and entertaining.

Editors might have curtailed a bit of Eugenides description of the historic struggles of Greece and Turkey, both past and present, but regardless, the tale flowed and bloomed. An interesting technique that Eugenides used was to sometimes revert to a third person observation of main character, Cal. It was an effective way to show how the character felt divorced from her own body.

- C.A. Wulff, author of Born Without a Tail

As big as America and as tiny as a sperm -- this book is just wonderful. Old fashioned in form, yet modern in voice, this is a different type of novel. In its expanse and insight about the human experience, its spans generations, nationalities, genders and politics, while navigating our experiences without judgment. Like its characters, this book is brave and I missed the characters when finishing the book.

Great book to read. New nothing of the subject matter and found this to be such and educational read as well as a novel

Middlesex is a great story about the old country where our Greek grandparents came from, about teenage love that burns forever in memory, and about Detroit in the 20th century. There haven't been enough novels about the Greek-American experience (some ethnic groups seem disproportionately represented in fiction), and there haven't been enough novels by writers who love Detroit. Cleverly, the title Middlesex might refer to the dilemma of the character who is born intersex, raised as a girl, and then lives as a man in adulthood. But what Middlesex is in the book is the name of the street in Grosse Pointe Michigan, the exclusive suburb where the Greek-American family makes its home after the race riots in 1968 Detroit. That play on the name encapsulates what Middlesex is: it has a sensational subject, but it's much more about Greeks coming to America and the short generational journey from hot dog stand to hippie. The writing is delightfully lyrical in a Californian style, reminiscent of Thomas Pynchon or Tom Robbins (though not quite a loopy).

The intersex main character is Cal(liope) Stephanides, daughter of loving parents, whose paternal grandparents were brother and sister and whose grandmother was a cousin of those parents. You can easily imagine that that combination would bring out some weird genes, and that's how Calliope came to be.

The first half of the book is the grandparents' story. Desdemona, Calliope's paternal grandmother is the dominant figure. I found it hard to relate to her, but that might be because she was so...foreign, both to the writer and to me. The second half belongs to Calliope/Cal. Various traumas attend the birth of Cal from the body of Calliope, but for some reason I never became emotionally engaged with Callie. It's a clever dodge for a male writer who can't get into the head of a female character to have her be biologically not a female. For these reasons I give Middlesex four stars rather than five.

Middlesex is a literary novel with an enjoyable story and engaging prose style. I recommend it to all who enjoy contemporary American fiction who are looking for a book that's not violent or depressing.

I chose to read this book because of someone else's recommendation. I was sorry I did. This book just dragged on from page one. I was really looking forward to reading Callie/Cal's story but for a good part of the novel all you get is a detailed family history filled with incest. That idea wasn't too bad but it was just too drawn out. I wanted to read more about Callie and I just didn't get it. Save your money and time.

I thought MiddleSex was a fascinating read. I enjoyed the journey through history Eugenides takes the reader on. From the incetuous relationship with Cal's grandparents to the ending of Cal's fate as a hermaphrodite. I also enjoyed all of the details that were included throughout history such as, the burning of Greece, his grandparents journey to America, and his parents witnessing the race riots in Detriot. It was all so accurate and humorous to read from the perspective of a Greek family and young Callie.

I highly recommend this book, I couldn't put it down.

50% of a novel's effectiveness is the writing. The other 50 is the story. I can't believe this book won a Pulitzer. I can believe it was on Oprah's list. Why? Because it was weak in so many ways. Start with the writing: I felt estranged through most of the book, an outsider, someone overhearing a story, one not told well by a pompous diner at the next table who is impressed by his own vocabulary. There's no doubt he can write, but can he communicate?..not well. The story: good story idea, good characters (especially Milt), all poorly developed. It is a windbag of a story, and that is one of it's primary weaknesses. It was so bloated at times I couldn't help thinking he would get to the point sometime. I wouldn't have minded if their was a journey involved. One where I would arrive and feel good about the trip. But their were only endless travels up and down, taking side streets, crawling up mountains of descriptive crap, and tedious blah, blah, blah. As you can tell, I would not recommend. The reason for two stars instead on one is the subject of the book. It was a good story told badly.

This review refers to the Unabridged Audio CD version of the novel.

Middlesex is a captivating novel that runs the gamut of emotions -- from comedy to tragedy.

The narrator of this audio book was exceptional. The main characters are Greek and while I'm not sure if the narrator was Greek, he pulled off the Greek/American accent wonderfully.

This story is unique in that the main character describes the story of his life by going back 2 generations to his grandparents in Turkey. The first 1/3 of the book deals primarily with his grandparents and it is not until later in the book that the story of the main character begins to unfold.

The remaining 2/3 of the novel are set primarily in Detroit and having grown up in the Metropolitan Detroit area myself, I found the descriptions of the city's changes from the 1920s to 1970s compelling.

If you're looking for a recap or summary of the novel, I'm sure you can find it in other reviews. I prefer to remain somewhat in the dark when I pick up a new book, so what I will say is that you will definitely not be disappointed by this novel. Enjoy!

I was assigned to read Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides in my English Literature class this semester (spring 2008). I was rather apprehensive because I knew it was going to be about a controversial subject, or so I thought. My son had read it a few years ago and told me to read it with an open mind, so I did.
Of course, there were times when you had to keep your emotions on the surface and not think too deeply about certain situations, but on the whole I found it to be an informative and enlightening text. Believe it or not, I was not familiar with what a hermaphrodite is even though I am a 53 year old mother of three. (I am a non-traditional student.)
The narration was very creative and enjoyable to read. The history and experiences of the three generations of the Stephanides family was intriguing and interesting.
Reading about Callie's feelings as her life evolved from childhood, through her/his teens, and then into his adulthood gave me a new respect and compassion for individuals who have to deal with similar situations where they are not part of the mainstream where gender is concerned. As a person realizes that they are different, it is very painful and traumatizing for them to undergo the changes they have to in order to survive both emotionally and physically. As ignorant (meaning not properly educated) individuals, we tend to stereotype these people and we can be very cruel to them. What they really need is for us to try to understand and accept them. What if something like this would have happened to you or me? Is this something we could have changed? It certainly isn't a conscious choice that is being made in these people's lives. So read Middlesex with an open mind and enjoy the story. It is a good read and Callie will find a place in your heart!

This is a long novel, however it is not a charles Dickens novel where one can easily get lost in the sea of characters. I love this books, there is an incredible amount of historical detail, which at first seems such a bore to read, however it is incredibly interesting after the novel is read. from the battles or wars between turkey and Greece, to the incredible rich history of Detroit that I had no idea about, I only knew Detroit for its cars. But the author has weeved together an incredible story in part about immigrants and starting their lives again. And the other part of the story is about a young girl who tries to find her identity, which is common to all of us, however it is more dramatic for this young girls as it happens that she is a boy. There is so many elements to this novel, its quite fascinating, and what makes this novel a masterpiece to me is that I still think about the novel and the author in this unique story made this story so universal. For example, hemaphrodites, much of the stories i have read about hemaphrodites, which is little, has always been mythologized, something unreal, however this novel manages to make this hemaphrodite a human being. I love this book. I must admit, this book took me a while to read, however, it is worth it.

On a friends recommendation (one of the best books she has ever read), I selected this as my ONLY book on a trip to a non-english speaking country. Big mistake. I struggled through 75 pages (vowed to make it to 100 - but could not)and set it aside for an Italian version of People Magazine.
This book just never hooked me, it was all over the place with very strange characters with whom I could not identify (and I like strange characters normally.) Not my deal. Glad others like it.

I thought this would be an excellent read, intriguing storyline, award-winning, why not give it a try.

I had a real hard time getting into the first half of the book. Some of it just dragged on, like the description of Lefty working in the GM factory. I get that it was repetitious assembly line work, no need to repeat over and over again for about 3 pages. I seriously ended up skimming over some of the story there.

Callie isn't even introduced until much later, and at that point, I felt the story started getting choppy. Wasn't the story supposed to be ABOUT Callie/Cal and her/his transformation and coming of age? I feel that Cal's part of the story was rushed, when pre-Callie had been so long, drawn out. The end flew through 8 years of Cal's life in one paragraph. And then it just ended.

I know the book was told from the point of view of Cal as a 40 year old man. And some of the story bounces back to that time, back and forth from the past to the present and to the past again. But nothing much in the story between that time. He alludes to relationships and happenings between his father's death and his being with Julie in Germany, but I think more could've been done there, and less dragging repetition in the beginning.

I usually read books fast, about a book a week. This one has taken me about 3 months to get through. I've put it down a few times and picked it up again, just because it was painful to get through.

I almost didn't read this book, due to the rather slow start when Eugenides describes Desdemona's and Lefty's life in Smyrna. It seemed to go into too much historical detail which I found a little boring and hard to follow (that's just me, I guess.) But I was very glad that I stuck with the book because the story unfolded into a really remarkable piece of work. The words that Eugenides uses to describe Calliope's feelings and thoughts were perfect - laugh out loud funny at the right times, and heartbreakingly sad at others. Once I got past page 50 or so, I couldn't put the book down. I had to keep reminding myself it was a work of fiction, as Eugenides brings so much life to the characters. My one gripe, aside from the slow start, is that I would have preferred more time and detail spent on Calliope's "transition" into Cal, as well as the reactions of her family. I was also dying for more details about his relationship with Julie and felt a little gypped that I didn't get to learn more. Other than that, I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a marvelously realistic novel.

Needless to say, I loved it. The story of Lefty and Desdemona, brother and sister, husband and wife, set the groundwork for the modern day tale of Calliope (later to be called Cal) Stephanides. Broaching the somewhat sensitive medical subject of hermaphroditism and related genetic anomalies, the reader's imagination is encouraged to assume that "this is what it must be like," to be born a girl and a boy. Calliope/Cal is such an attractive, funny, intelligent person. His adolescent love for the Obscure Object (talk about a male expression), his personal Aphrodite, is rich in plaintive desire. [At this point in the story, it is apparent that Calliope's emotional self is definitely male, even if she has thick, long black hair and wears school girl clothes.] The young male adult, Cal, flies from the cocoon of Greek family life, making the right choice. His father would have been proud.

The only reason I could justify 2 stars is because Eugenides is, technically anyway, a very good writer. He writes fluidly and expertly. So, it's not the way he says it - it's what he says that's awful. I chose to put the book down just over quarter of the way in, rather than continue participating in the assault on my sensibilities.

Eugenides has the emotional and intellectual cowards' talent for relying on cliched irony in place of thoughtful and original observation of the human condition. He's managed to jam into this large book every piece of sexually, emotionally and politically corrected tripe offered up by the most vulgar members of our society and the overall effect is of well composed regurgitation. The writer seems not to have been able to resist even one cliche. As a result, the book is relentlessly predictable and boring. Save your money.