Middlesex

By: Jeffrey Eugenides

Narrated by: Kristoffer Tabori

Length: 21 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

In the spring of 1974, Calliope Stephanides, a student at a girls' school in Grosse Pointe, finds herself drawn to a chain-smoking, strawberry-blonde classmate with a gift for acting. The passion that furtively develops between them - along with Callie's failure to develop physically - leads Callie to suspect that she is not like other girls. In fact, she is not really a girl at all.

The explanation for this shocking state of affairs is a rare genetic mutation - and a guilty secret - that have followed Callie's grandparents from the crumbling Ottoman Empire to Prohibition-era Detroit and beyond, outlasting the glory days of the Motor City, the race riots of 1967, and the family's second migration, into the foreign country known as suburbia. Thanks to the gene, Callie is part girl, part boy. And even though the gene's epic travels have ended, her own odyssey has only begun.

Spanning eight decades - and one unusually awkward adolescence - Jeffrey Eugenides' long-awaited second novel is a grand, original fable of crossed bloodlines, the intricacies of gender, and the deep, untidy promptings of desire.

Winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Audie Award for best unabridged fiction, Middlesex marks the fulfillment of a huge talent, named one of America's best young novelists by both Granta and The New Yorker.

Check out more selections from Oprah's Book Club.

©2002 Jeffrey Eugenides (P)2002 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Critic reviews

Audie Award Winner, Fiction (Unabridged), 2003

"Eugenides proves that he is not only a unique voice in modern literature but also well versed in the nature of the human heart. Highly recommended." (Library Journal )

"Not only are his interpretations of the characters astonishingly credible, but his internalization of the narrative is nothing short of amazing." (Publishers Weekly)

"A towering achievement...a story that manages to be both illuminating and transcendent...[Eugenides] has emerged as the great American writer many of us suspected him of being." (Los Angeles Times Book Review)

Stick with it!!!

First, I'm really glad that I listened to this book, it took a while for me to get interested in it, there were parts that were at first boring & confusing to me but I stuck with it, and in the end glad that I did. In the beginning I had no idea where this story was going, why did we need all of this "boring" info, that's what I thought but you really do need it and then when the book is done you realize that it really wasn't boring. So in a nutshell I truly think it was a very enjoyable story, learned things that I never knew and actually never thought about, give it a try, stick with it, good book.

MAybe

If you like accents listen to this. If you want more philosophical underpinnings don't.

Not a page-turner

I enjoyed the first part of the book, but found it hard to get past the first half. Maybe I will go back to it later.

Haunting

Would you listen to Middlesex again? Why?

Yes, I'm not sure if I listened or attempted to at the right time in my life. It was a great story, however my heart broke for the main character and I found it difficult to listen on.

Really fun read

What did you love best about Middlesex?

Loved the characters and the way the narrator nailed their idiosyncrasies

Who was your favorite character and why?

Loved the grandfather

Which scene was your favorite?

The riots in detroit...

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

WAAAY too long for that. But was happy to get back to the story

Any additional comments?

It took a few chapters to get used to the character being hermaphrodite but it is not the most important part of the character really. Almost a tool for the writer to be male and female all in one...

Best audiobook ever heard.

This is not my usual style, but I decided to give it a chance. I am so happy I did so.
The picturesque, fantastic and magical writing of the author pulls you vividly into this story, you can almost taste smell and feel this family’s life.
But the true magic is done by the narrator who is a skillful story teller And a true virtuosos with accents and styles.

Incredible from beginning to end.

Just an absolutely classic novel. There's not a sentence that isn't enthralling. A family history told in the best and most unique way. All parts relevant to the core story. Entertaining, vivid, and assuring.

Amazing!

All time favorite! Enjoyed it so much. Honestly, I wanted the book to keep going 😭

Interesting....

I didn't love it, but found it interesting and engaging. Very well written. Yet, I never fully sunk in. Good narration by a man who sounds like Richard Dreyfus

Fantastic!

When I first set out to listen to this book, I wasn't in the right frame of mind. Maybe I was distracted but it failed to hook me and so I shelved it after a couple of chapters. I rarely return to a shelved book but I am so glad I did with Middlesex! This was an amazing story so full of rich detail and characters I couldn't help but absolutely adore. It was laugh out loud funny many times which was surprising to me, considering the subject matter. The narration was positively exquisite! Highly recommend