Book #22

Middlesex

By: Jeffery Eugenides

Let me be totally honest. I never would have picked this book up off the shelf if it had not been sitting on a display with the "Oprah's Book Club" sticker prominently placed in the corner. I don't know why exactly. The title and the cover really didn't interest me any, but we aren't supposed to judge a book by its' cover. The title actually carries two meanings in the story. It is the name of the street our character lived on, and it helps describe who Calliope/Callie/Cal is. He is a hermaphrodite, believed to be a girl at birth but actually a male. This story is Cal's story. The story encompasses the Stephanides' family history from the time Cal's grandmother married his grandfather even though they were also brother and sister. Right away, you think, ICK! Right? Okay, I did too, but they do have their reasons. Good or bad, right or wrong, the couple has two children. The oldest, Milton, marries his cousin, Tessie, and Cal is the second child of their union. The family history is interesting and tragic. The story of Callie becoming Cal is interesting. I will warn you, it is the entirety of the book. The narrator (adult Cal) allows the reader glimpses into his life now, but the majority of the story takes place when Cal is still Callie and struggles as an awkward girl with feelings for girls and being too tall and having too much facial hair. I enjoyed it! It was not what I expected, and it did take me a while to really get into the story, but it is a good read that can spark some good thought-provoking conversations.