MID-MIDDLESEX ANALYSIS

YES, it's Part III. Not that Part I and II were boring, far from it, but Part III's where the real juicy stuff starts happening, of PUBERTY, of how he deals with his "abnormality," of discovering and changing. It's why you pick up the book in the first place; having read all the necessary background of ancestral relationships and immigration and historic life-changing moments in the Greek Stephanides lineage, now, the book's namesake is uncovered (though, it is actually the name given to the house they move into, but metaphorically speaking, apt for his condition) and whoo, I hardly want to put it down!

Eugenides writes a family portrait/drama with as much cinematic pedigree and hilarity as in Little Miss Sunshine, and I know, random analogy, but this:

It's the Cold War-era and the family is having to make some adjustments financially. "Meat began appearing less often on our dinner table. Milton [their father] rationed electricity...For a while we lived with a single lightbulb, which Milton carried from room to room...'I can't see my food,' Tessie complained. 'What do you mean?' said Milton. 'This is what they call ambiance.'

"After dessert, Milton took a handkerchief out of his back pocket, unscrewed the hot lightbulb, and, tossing it like an unambitious juggler, conveyed it into the living room. We waited in darkness as he fumbled through the house, knocking into furniture. Finally there was a brownout in the distance and Milton cheerily called out, 'Ready!'"

The story's so interlaced and researched, so personal that you'd think it's an autobiography. His omniscient first-person narration, mostly as a grown man named "Cal" who was raised as a little girl "Callie," threads the past two generations and his own life story together imaginatively, its serious undertones highlighted by humorousness and lyricism. One thing I haven't quite figured out yet though: why is his older brother referred to as "Chapter Eleven"?

currently listening: Wave of Mutilation by The Pixies

<3,
Claire