Book Group Selection – Middlesex
Jeffrey Eugenides’s novel Middlesex (2002) focuses on the chronicle of forty-one-year-old, hermaphroditic Calliope Stephanides, which presents her multigenerational Greek-American family and her struggle to establish a clear sense of self. After opening with the story of her grandparents, Desdemona and Lefty, and their subsequent union, Cal traces the damaged gene that this brother and sister passed down through the generations to Cal, which causes her gender irregularity.
Cal weaves together the story of her grandparents and their descendents with her own, comparing the problems they faced in their efforts to reconcile their Greek heritage with their adopted U.S. culture to Cal’s attempts to find balance between her female and male halves. She sets her epic story, which moves from 1922 to 2001, against a historical backdrop of change, from the Turkish invasion of Greece, through Prohibition, the Depression, World War II, the civil rights movement, and the Vietnam War. As her family gradually adapts to their new world, Cal is also able to find a way to accept the duality of her own experience. Eugenides’s ability to find the humor as well as the tragedy in their stories creates a compelling work that celebrates difference as well as community.
Now that the votes are in and we’ve picked this book, it’s time to get it into your hot little hands and start reading! Remember that if you go to Aunties and pre-order the book you can get a 15% discount.
The next meeting is this Sunday 22nd at the Little Garden Cafe on 2901 W Northwest Blvd at 1pm. This is a great little place and we have the entire back room!  If you plan on coming try and read at least the first half of the book, but don’t worry if you can’t finish it all in time. See you Sunday!
I’d like to add “Cure for Death By Lightning by Gail Anderson Dargatz and People of the Book. (can’t remember the author)
I’d like to nominate “The Revolution Will Not Be Funded” a compilation of activist essays edited by INCITE!
I thought today’s book group discussion was rad. Thanks to everyone for helping my weekend feel like a weekend!
I loved it. The diversity of time periods, characters, literary devices – you can’t go wrong with this book. I took it in small doses. Since there was never a dull moment I kept coming back to dip my toes into this deep narrative pool. While the “socially squeamish” might get hung up on some of the more unconventional aspects of the storyline, I was raised with an open mind and so for me it was all about the fascinating fungibility of human nature.