Middlesex
A Novel

First of all, I should state that the reader, Kristoffer Tabori, is superb at capturing the European immigrant’s voice and attitude. His energetic, often humorous, reading made the many hours of listing to this very long book fly by. If there is a primary 'message' that Eugenides wanted to convey about gender it is probably that no amount of socialization being universally treated and accepted as one gender can overcome that person's pre-existing gender identity. This boy who thought he was and had always been treated as a girl was driven to what he believed were Lesbian desires because he could not alter or suppress his underlying gender identity. When you look at this central issue of the book's second half in this way, it seems that Eugenides has set up an elaborate, maybe improbable plot to make a fairly obvious point. But I think the strongest part of this book and the real reason to read it, is the hilarious and touching story of Greek immigrants and their children as*imilating into American society as best they can -- maybe not such an unusual story, but unusually well told in Middlesex.

This is a great book, in a weird sort of way. It is one of the books I recommend to people as a 'must read.

This is one of the best audio books I have ever listened to! A combination of a fascinating story and a wonderful reader equals storytelling at it's best. This is a story rich with humor and sadness with ordinary heros.

this was the best audio-book I've listened to yet, it was truly and amazing story- very interesting, excellent narrator too. Mark in Colorado

Captivating and educational. An interesting look at the world throught the eyes of such a confused little girl.

I got off the bus from Bumbershoot around 1 AM, exhausted. Convinced that even the cars speeding past my window couldn’t keep me from this night’s rest, I opened the door to a stench of exceptional vileness. Not a dead stench, or a spoiled food stench. This was the stench of sewage. From a spot in t......more

“I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974.” I'd heard Middlesex was about a character who was born intersex and raised as a girl - a compellin......more

This would have been better as an NPR story or an episode of "This American Life" than a novel. Or maybe if someone other than Eugenides had written it. An interesting idea, and a few engrossing sex scenes (I like the "crocus" and the peep-tank, and the whole long flirtation with The Object drew me......more

Alright, it’s high time I review this hermaphroditic little masterpiece. Being a pseudo-biochemist (pseudo in the sense that I only pretend to be a biochemist, whereas in reality I write scientific development reports and other documents that no one will ever read but which I’ve convinced myself are......more

Exactly the flawless masterpiece you've heard it is. I've read hundreds of novels in my day, & this is in the top 3 (On equal shelf with "A Confederacy of Dunces" & "Blonde." (My own personal trifecta perfecta: The THE the best novels of ALL TIME!)) I will never stop lauding this book. Unbelievable,......more