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)

Fantastic!

I don't watch Oprah so I didn't know this book exist. It would seem boring from the description but it's wonderful. Listen to it.

The only problem is Audible didn't edit out the music from the CDs (at the beginning and end of each CD).

You gotta' get this one.

The story is incredible and the reader is extraordinary. I am not a big novel buy but this story has really stuck with me. After a couple of hours I fealt that these characters were my friends and I cared about their future. I highly recommend it.

this isn't about a hermaphrodite

This book isn't solely about a hermaphrodite. It's about so much more! Youthful naivete, family secrets, the life of American immigrants in the 20th century, cultures clashing, growing up, betrayal, love, racial tension, the decline of the American city, and ultimately the competing influence of nature and nurture on human development. Also, it's about how the decisions of the proverbial father are visited upon the son, so to speak. I was fascinated with Desdemona and Lefty and the tangled web they wove when they fled Asia Minor! I was haunted by the scenes of the Turks' massacre of the Greeks and Armenians at Smyrna--so much so that I have since researched the event to put it in historical context for myself. Heartbreaking! I recommend the book--it breaks free of conventional rules of fiction and provides the listener with the rich, deep human experience of several generations.

Excellent

This kept me riveted and awake during a long commute every day. I actually looked forward to the drive. The book was engaging and the story unfolded in an unexpected way. I thought it would be all about the angst of this girl finding out she's really a boy, but it's really not. It's about a whole family, generations, choices, wars, immigration and a nice dose of science in the form of a brief course in genetics. Loved it. Oh, and I can't fail to mention the outstanding reader's voice. He did such a great Ya-Ya. At first it seemed odd having a gruff sounding man tell a little girl's story, but that turned out to be in character too. He made each character's voice come to life in a way I felt no need to correct it in my mind the way I usually do.

Fascinating!

Combine a fascinating story by a talented writer with the unique voice of a talented reader -- and you get magic.

I found this book particularly enjoyable, since Calliope was born the same year as I and, like me, she was born in the Detroit area. The author was born here as well, as so the book is very rich in detail about growing up in Detroit in the 70's.

At first, I felt impatient when the story took a detour back to the life of the grandparents -- but I was soon riveted by their story too. Their history is essential to the plot. Stay with it, and you will be rewarded.

The reader/narrator was wonderful...and he knew how to hit the perfect note of irony for this book. (He did mispronounce a few local street names, but only Michiganders will notice.)

I highly recommend this funny, touching, and unique book!

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.