Middlesex: A Novel (edit title)

• Rated 5 stars

“This is a interesting story about a brother and sister who immigrate from Greece because a war burns them out of their homeland. The story is told by their granddaughter / grandson, Cal who turns out to be a hermaphrodite. The brother and sister marry and raise their family in Detroit. This is a very well written page turning epic saga about a very interesting greek /American family and their struggles and triumphs to assimilate into American society. ”

• Rated 3 stars

“a story of a very confused adolescent, no thanks to her (his) parents who have tried to hide the trth about her (his) gender”

• Rated 0 stars

“This is a very hard book to review. i think the reason for this is that it's not about one particular thing. Rather, it consists of one event that shapes the family for generations to come. This is a tale about an immigrant family from Greece, particularly the 2nd generation born child, named Calliope. Calliope is a hermaphrodite, and this book chronicles how her family came to accept her/him and how he, in turn, learned to accept himself.
This book takes place in Detroit, which I found interesting because my family immigrated to Detroit in the 1960's. I could identify a lot of the landmarks mentioned and I felt a familiarity with the setting. In addition, this book raised a lot of questions as to what exactly gender is, and what makes someone one sex or another. I guess people have established what makes someone male or female, and this book is about warping your perception of that so that you understand that, when it comes down to it, the only way to identify gender is to determine it yourself. This book also discusses many topics I had never really given much thought to, such as classifying as a hermaphrodite and the prejudices raised. This book is rather a dark read, but is incredibly thrilling and moving. I would recommend it to someone who likes books that make them think, and who wants to be able to leave the book with a lot more then what they first came in with. ”

• Rated 0 stars

“I loved this book and highly recommend it!”

• Rated 2 stars

“ Lesson learned; Just because Oprah liked it does not mean it is good”

• Rated 0 stars

“Enjoyed it. More than the story of a girl/boy it is a history lesson in race and gender and disability descrimination in Detroit.”

• Rated 4 stars

“good read, really fun to listen to it read to you”

• Rated 4 stars

“I really liked this book -- very interesting, yet disturbing at times. I would cautiously recommend this book.”

• Rated 1 stars

“Another book where I couldn't understand what the fuss was all about. I found "Middlesex" incredibly long-winded and boring. A true struggle to get through.”

• Rated 0 stars

“Excellent book. Writer has exceptional vocabulary and is a wonderful story teller”