As I will be divulging my postulations on this novel at book club, I don't want to give away too many thoughts online, for fear of reprisal from my fellow "clubers." Suffice to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I now present to you, a rough algorithm for your decision to read this book (sorry I don't have the tools to draw lozenges, boxes and triangles). A "yes" signifies that you should read the book; a "no" means you should continue with the algorithm, or simply not read the book.
1. You like to read fiction - should you answer No here, the algorithm is done, and you are voted off literary island along with that guy who wrote Celestine Prophecy.
2. You are a hermaphrodite, tranny or other form of sexually confused "entity" - immediately go to Yes and read this book. If no, proceed with algorithm anyway.
3. You are Greek, Turkish, or Cypriot - not an immediate reason to read the book, but your preference for olives will directly correlate to a yes answer.
4. You are reading all the Pulitzer Prize winners - immediately go to Yes. If no, you are a normal human being and its ok, continue with algorithm.
5. You are reading all the Oprah book club books - although you should probably invest in your own brain, Oprah seems to be getting you through life anyway; immediately go to Yes. If you have thought patterns of your own, welcome to the Montel Williams book club, a somewhat less iconic black talk show host, but the best place to go for a paternity test (or maybe's its the Maury show, isn't he white.....I digress).
6. You don't mind reading over 500 pages - if you are dead set against reading "long" novels, than I guess you'll never get to enjoy most of literature. So, if you answer yes, proceed; if its a No, this is the end of the line.
7. You grew up in Detroit - then congratulations on living pass the age of 3 and not being shot. You may want to take some time recovering from your stay in the meth-clinic, but while you are at it, you may enjoy this novel set mostly in your home "town".
8. You enjoy good prose; have a sense for historical fiction; are a troubled teenager; want to learn more about trannies, hermaphrodites, Epstein-Barr syndrome; you are a geneticist; you have a desire to learn about Greco-Roman contributions in America, other than Ruland Gardner; for any or all of these reasons, you would say YES to Middlesex.
Breasts have the same effect on me as on anyone with my testosterone level.
1. You like to read fiction - should you answer No here, the algorithm is done, and you are voted off literary island along with that guy who wrote Celestine Prophecy.
2. You are a hermaphrodite, tranny or other form of sexually confused "entity" - immediately go to Yes and read this book. If no, proceed with algorithm anyway.
3. You are Greek, Turkish, or Cypriot - not an immediate reason to read the book, but your preference for olives will directly correlate to a yes answer.
4. You are reading all the Pulitzer Prize winners - immediately go to Yes. If no, you are a normal human being and its ok, continue with algorithm.
5. You are reading all the Oprah book club books - although you should probably invest in your own brain, Oprah seems to be getting you through life anyway; immediately go to Yes. If you have thought patterns of your own, welcome to the Montel Williams book club, a somewhat less iconic black talk show host, but the best place to go for a paternity test (or maybe's its the Maury show, isn't he white.....I digress).
6. You don't mind reading over 500 pages - if you are dead set against reading "long" novels, than I guess you'll never get to enjoy most of literature. So, if you answer yes, proceed; if its a No, this is the end of the line.
7. You grew up in Detroit - then congratulations on living pass the age of 3 and not being shot. You may want to take some time recovering from your stay in the meth-clinic, but while you are at it, you may enjoy this novel set mostly in your home "town".
8. You enjoy good prose; have a sense for historical fiction; are a troubled teenager; want to learn more about trannies, hermaphrodites, Epstein-Barr syndrome; you are a geneticist; you have a desire to learn about Greco-Roman contributions in America, other than Ruland Gardner; for any or all of these reasons, you would say YES to Middlesex.
Breasts have the same effect on me as on anyone with my testosterone level.
1 comment:
I loved the family history that Eugenides gives you. I enjoyed following the family through to the birth of the principle character and then continued on to her/his journey - it was not how I thought the book would be written but was a nice surprise.
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