Jeffrey Eugenides and Benito Gomez Ibanez - Middlesex

Pros: Beautiful writing, great likable characters and a moving story

Cons: None

The Bottom Line: If you want to go beyond the mundane into the beautiful world of words, this is the book for you.

Review: “Middlesex” is one of the most amazing books that I have ever read. It is humorous, painful, realistic and full of fantasy of a sort. Jeffrey Eugenides’ first novel, “The Virgin Suicides” was an acclaimed bestseller that I have not ...

Pros: Brilliant writing. That's all there is to it.

Cons: Got caught up in it and was distracted for a while from my real life.

The Bottom Line: The Bottom Line is, just read it.

Review: This is Cal Stephanides, grandson to Greek immigrants, all-American boy, 41. Cal is living in Berlin, working as an assistant cultural attache. Cal spent the first 14 years of his life as Calliope, granddaughter to Greek immigrants, all-American girl. ...

Pros: Fascinating tale. Interesting historical perspective.

Cons: Odd narration. Pre-adolescent sexual play.

The Bottom Line: I'm sure this book would not appeal to everyone, but it is a refreshing look at a taboo subject with an ineresting and pivotal backdrop.

Review: There is something not quite right about Calliope Stephanides, and “Middlesex” is about her journey of discovery. The story covers three generations of her Greek-American family starting in a small Greek village and ending on the doorstep of the ...

Pros: A multigenerational epic with wonderfully likeable characters.

Cons: Starts a little slow.

The Bottom Line: An epic tragic comedy of a Greek family - spanning three generations. Wonderfully written and entertaining.

Review: Because I loved Jeffrey Eugenides first novel, The Virgin Suicides, I anxiously awaited his next offering. I ordered it without reading much about it and was a little put off by the synopsis. I more or less expected another Boys Don't Cry with a Greek...

Pros: Rich narration, thought-provoking themes, crisp, clear prose

Cons: Sexually explicit content may bother some readers

The Bottom Line: An insightful, delightful, read with masterful writing.

Review: Jeffrey Eugenides richly deserves the Pulitzer Prize the novel received. The novel traces the main character Callie's origins from before her birth to the present and explores every kind of middle ground, most notably that of gender identity. Hence ...

Pros: Amazing writing, historically balanced and informative. Well-rounded characters.

Cons: I found no cons to this novel.

The Bottom Line: If you are looking for one of the best books ever written that takes you on full ride through a life and all of its hardships, this book does that.

Review: "I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974." From the moment I read that very first line, I was ...

Pros: Epic, great writing, historical and modern, magical and realistic

Cons: none

The Bottom Line: Middlesex is a great book!

Review: Calliope Stephanides is a little girl growing up in Detroit in the 60’s, or at least she thinks she is as she has nothing else to go on. The family doctor misses a slight difference in her genitalia when she is born, and her parents raise her without ...

Pros: Very well researched, with an epic slant that keeps you turning those pages.

Cons: A bit slow at the start.

Review: I'm in awe at the way he wove genetic biology, Greek history and the Greek immigrant experience into a compelling and most unusual coming of age story. I learned much about the Greeks that I didn't in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," and with a name like ...

Pros: Beautifully written, interesting story, thought-provoking, charming

Cons: Not necessarily a con, but it is a slow read.

Review: This is book questions moral and religious issues as it carries you through a great story of generations of Greek immigrants in the US. The sentences are beautifully written, the content makes you think and feel. I grew attached to the characters and ...

Pros: No-punches-pulled exploration of hermaphroditic teenage sexual awakening.

Cons: Not so relevant for those of us with just one set of genitals.

The Bottom Line: Eugenides is great at capturing '70s teen angst. However, the hermaphrodite angle makes it tough to relate, and the Greek history is bo-ring. Well-written, but occasionally drags.

Review: Wouldn’t it be cool to be Greek? I think it would. Of course, my knowledge of Greek culture is pretty limited, and can actually be summarized in the following 3 points:
1.Gyros taste pretty good.
2. "Baklava" is fun to say.
3. I like...