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)

Outstanding

Would you listen to Middlesex again? Why?

Yes, the narrator is wonderful and brings a book that is already a wonder to that next level.

Any additional comments?

Exceptional. Eugenides has an extravegent way with words - his descriptions, turns of phrase, dialog, timing, and wit are all on ample display. Combined with a most wonderful narration, this should not be missed.

The story is mostly a coming of age story, but told through various lenses -- that of family history and world history, through self-discovery and identity, through genetics and self-determination. Eugenides switches points of view from our narrator (Calliope/Callie/Cal) and from a more omniciscient version of the same. That touch of magical reliasim allows us to see through the vantage point of the narrator's grandparents and parents, and even through other characters. While critics have found fault with some of the content (the portrayal of being intersex, the intimation that sexual attraction to females necessarily meant the narrator must be male), the book on the whole never devolves into the obscene or panders or trespasses on the humanity of Callie. Instead, you get a full potrait, with sensitivity and detail and nuance. An important and insightful novel that manages to also be funny and poignant and entertaining. Highly recommended.

This book should be in the Audiblebe in the Audible Hall of Fame!

This production opened my eyes, my mind, and my heart. Don't know whether to listen to another book by this author or another book by the narrator next. I just love them both so much!! 💕💕

A great listen!

This is a beautifully written book and wonderful to listen to. The narrator has done an extraordinary job of reading each character that is both entertaining and compelling. The writer is a true storyteller weaving a saga of several generations of a family - each member a unique and interesting character.

Incredible book

I have been capitaved by the writer as well as the reader. A facinating book, one that I am very glad I had a chance to hear. I believe everyone should listen to this one.

very interesting

Great story of a family , and how this young man handled being both female and male. Truly enlightening and also kind of sad how it affected the family.

One of the strongest narrators I've heard

Mr. Tabori did a superlative job with an excellent story. I found myself asking if I would have thought the book as funny in print as I did in audio form. I suppose I'll never know.

Solid, if meandering, story.

Jeffrey Eugenides likes to wander when he writes - he wants you to know the backstory to every single little character in the book. And it's important to know that backstory, because even the briefest mention of a man belies his importance later on in the story. Characters enter, characters leave, and characters come back again, because Eugenides is a wanderer. While this is wonderful throughout most of the book, I found myself wanting to skip over certain parts, wondering what was relevant to the story at hand - the one he interrupted to give you this backstory. It's still wonderfully written, and not at all tedious, just a little distracting.

Tabori's narration is more than impressive - it's ebullient. From the gruffest of Milton's rage, to the Grecian grandmother, each voice flows seamlessly together, and the novel keeps moving. He keeps the pace well, I was never bored listening, although I was able to stop listening and go do other things if I needed to do so. Tabori is like the old man at the bar, whom you know you can interrupt and come back to - his story will still be there. You won't want to interrupt, though.

Highly recommended

This novel follows the lives of three generations of Greek-Americans. The story leads up to the self-discovery made by a child in the last generation. There is a fascinating cast of characters, each of whom is well developed by the author. There is enough history, pathos, and humor to keep you thoroughly engrossed. The reader (Tabori) is expressive and brings each character alive with an instantly recognizable and unique voice. True, the accent that he gives to the immigrant characters does not strike me as authentically Greek. It made little difference in his excellent portrayals of them. This is one of the best books I have read in the last year or two.

A Greek Epic

This is not a simple story of a confused adoloscence. It provides a wonderful history of those who had to flee oppression in the early 20th Century, economic and racial divides in Detroit in the 1960's , and gives a hard look at what determines a person's sex and/or gender. Very long, but never dull.

Fabulous

This was the first audio book I've ever listened to. I used to be an avid reader, but recent medical conditions have caused me to lose my ability to concentrate on the written word, with the exception of reading magazine or internet articles. I have truly missed reading. I wasn't sure how I would do with listening to a book being read to me. What a delight! I feel as if I am actually reading, with the joy of not being able to put a book down. And listening to Middlesex, although long, was worth every minute of it. It was poignant, while being hilarious. I have actually listened to it twice and could listen again. I rarely did that when physically reading a book. Middlesex has become one of my all time favorites!