by Chad Cowgill

Created on: November 10, 2009

Middlesex is the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Jeffrey Eugenides. Its protagonist is Callie (Cal), an intersex person. The first half of the novel focuses on the grandparents and parents of Callie. A brother and sister immigrate from Greece and marry each other. Through their incest relationship, they give birth to the father of Callie. Callie's father, Milton, then marries his second cousin and gives birth to Callie. Callie is born as an intersex individual, but no one is aware of this and Callie is raised as a female.

The first half of the novel gives a great description of historical events. It focuses on the Great Fire of Smyrna and then when Callie's grandparents flee to the USA, it focuses on Detroit. It shows the Prohibition smuggling, the Ford factories, the race riots, and other events. The descriptions and history were really educational and interesting.

The second half of the novels focuses on Callie as she is coming of age. She is attracted to women before learning about being intersex. One Callie learns of her difference, the family goes to see a doctor and discusses surgery. Callie flees and go to San Fransisco. Here Callie changes her name to Cal and takes on a male persona. Cal is in a burlesque show in order to make money. The show is raided by the police and the underage Cal is sent back to Detroit. Now Cal is finally comfortable with his identity as a male and his family comes to accept this as well.

This was an incredible adventure for me. I was not accustomed to the subject matter (which is extremely adult) and to this kind of drama. Although a little long in length, the writing ability of Eugenides is extremely good. It gives a picture of contemporary history. It also shows incest relationships and some of the medical problems that this can cause. It shows family turmoil and the attempt to accept gender identities that may be different from the norm. Each character has a different personality and the plot line is event driven, which makes for a more riveting read.

This book is only for adults and is thick and advanced in subject matter and reading style. Only pick this book up if you want a challenge, not only for reading, but also for testing ideas and learning new concepts about identity, tolerance, and acceptance. It definitely deserves the Pulitzer and I look forward to conquering another Eugenides book in the future.

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