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)

Great Book

It's really good, narrated well, and it's a very good story. The narrator does a great job keeping you interested. It's totally worth your credit.

FANTASTIC

Sensitive subject matter done with amazing wit and humor and artfully told. I looked forward to listening to it every day and was so sad when the tale ended. Absolutely gold.

Awesome!

Truly a remarkable book - well written and informative! Enjoy!!

I loved the book. Well worth your time.

Experience the world through the eyes of someone else. Don't we all feel like an outsider sometimes?

Narrator detracts from the story

I like the story, but the narrator's rushed delivery, overly dramatic style, and annoying accent all distracted me. The story is told by Cal, the main character, who is supposed to be from Detroit, yet we're subjected to a narrator with a New York accent that only becomes more pronounced when he rushes-- which is often.

Loved it!!!

Amazing story of a Greek immigrant family to the US. Well-written, heartbreaking at times. Beautifully narrated.

Wow everyone should listen

What a great audio book.. love the voices and by the end you’re left wanting more!

Enjoyed it

What about Kristoffer Tabori’s performance did you like?

In the first minutes I thought perhaps the narrator's voice was too intense, but very soon it became just perfect for the story- enjoyable.

Any additional comments?

Recommend

The best!

What did you love best about Middlesex?

There is so much to love about this book. Jeffrey Eugenides takes you on a genetic journey where he weaves the past and present, introduces us to the old country, to the riots in Detroit and to everlasting guilt. All this while Caliope's intersex story takes center stage. It really is an amazing book!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Desdamonia and the guilt she carries. I can't say much without giving the story away. But I'm glad the story begins and ends with her. She comes full circle.

Gender bending story compassionately told

I found myself engrossed in this story which winds and twists from the protagonist to his family members creating a surprisingly rich characterization of Greek Families and their culture, and also earlier American culture. In a way it reminds me of a cultural anthropologist’s view of a person. It captures the uncertainty and pain of a person who is struggling with gender identity. As a heterosexual, is has given me a greater understanding for people who struggle with this issue. This book is entertaining yet also enlightening.