Phil Miller

This book is a tapestry enormous enough to cover an entire building yet stitched in needlepoint and petit point. The detailed, colorful scenes stretch from realistic to surrealistic, utterly believable yet unbelievable. The artistry is jaw-droppingly wow.

The story encompasses eight decades—from the Greco-Turkish War in 1921 to 1980. The action takes place where the author was born and brought up, in Detroit and its suburb, Grosse Point. Eugenides chose a setting he knew well. He had the main character born in the same year, 1960, as himself. Her family, like the author’s, consists of Greek Americans. Detroit in the 20th century embodied many American themes—the automobile industry, a significant immigration population, a large influx from the Southern Migration of Black Americans leading to racial tensions and riots, and trends in music from the swing era to hip hop to rap.

The main character is Calliope Stephanides, brought up as a girl after her parents and doctor overlook her intersex genitalia. The point of view fluctuates between first-person storytelling by young Calliope and omniscient narration, which gives access to the thoughts and actions of characters outside of Calliope’s opportunities for observation. As a literary genre, this is a coming-of-age novel about Calliope.

What amazed me in listening to Middlesex was its wide sweep of history and culture while zeroing in on miniscule details from a given scene. I also appreciated the serious presentation of the tension between nature and nurture in human development, dramatically illustrated in Calliope’s experience.

I pulled up this book from a list of Pulitzer Prize winners and requested a copy from our public library, which sent me the audio version. I’m grateful for the superb reading by actor Kristoffer Tabori as well as the monumental literary contribution of author Jeffrey Eugenides.

This book is a tapestry enormous enough to cover an entire building yet stitched in needlepoint and petit point. The detailed, colorful scenes stretch from realistic to surrealistic, utterly believable yet unbelievable. The artistry is jaw-droppingly wow.

The story encompasses eight decades—from the Greco-Turkish War in 1921 to 1980. The action takes place where the author was born and brought up, in Detroit and its suburb, Grosse Point. Eugenides chose a setting he knew well. He had the main character born in the same year, 1960, as himself. Her family, like the author’s, consists of Greek Americans. Detroit in the 20th century embodied many American themes—the automobile industry, a significant immigration population, a large influx from the Southern Migration of Black Americans leading to racial tensions and riots, and trends in music from the swing era to hip hop to rap.

The main character is Calliope Stephanides, brought up as a girl after her parents and doctor overlook her intersex genitalia. The point of view fluctuates between first-person storytelling by young Calliope and omniscient narration, which gives access to the thoughts and actions of characters outside of Calliope’s opportunities for observation. As a literary genre, this is a coming-of-age novel about Calliope.

What amazed me in listening to Middlesex was its wide sweep of history and culture while zeroing in on miniscule details from a given scene. I also appreciated the serious presentation of the tension between nature and nurture in human development, dramatically illustrated in Calliope’s experience.

I pulled up this book from a list of Pulitzer Prize winners and requested a copy from our public library, which sent me the audio version. I’m grateful for the superb reading by actor Kristoffer Tabori as well as the monumental literary contribution of author Jeffrey Eugenides.

However, the story itself, while fictional, has historical underpinnings. Like many other novels based on Resistance fighters during World War II, the action is compelling enough to sustain a reader’s interest. In this case, the author constructed her book from true stories of young people working as document forgers.

The main character, Eva, is Jewish and was born in France though her parents had emigrated there from Poland. Throughout her story, we follow a romance that develops between her and another forger working with the Resistance. Her mother strongly disapproves of their relationship because he is not Jewish. The novel challenges the reader to consider the pros and cons of interfaith marriage.

As Eva’s father tells her, “My point is that every parent wants what is best for his or her child. But we are all guilty of seeing things through the lens of our own lives.” (355)

The title of this novel describes a book at the center of the relationship of the two forgers and the many names they must change to protect children being led to safety from France to Switzerland. This book frames the plot from start to finish.

As a Book Club “favorite,” this edition includes a Reader’s Guide with discussion questions as well as an informative author’s note about the research underlying the story.