By Jeffrey Eugenides
(Reviewed by Carla Hedstrom)

This Pulitzer Prize–winning novel provides an insight into a human state that most of us have never experienced nor even considered—hermaphroditism.

The only real knowledge I had of this phenomenon was earthworms having both male and female reproductive organs and the snowman in To Kill a Mockingbird that appears to be both male and female. I had read about this novel, thinking it sounded really strange, and then I saw Eugenides on the Oprah show with some people who are intersex. Those interviews piqued my interest, so I was glad that my book club selected this as our book this month.

The narrator of the novel, Cal (Calliope), who has grown up in a second-generation Greek immigrant family in Detroit, tells the story of his family, beginning in 1922 in Turkey, where his Greek grandmother and grandfather live. The story of their courtship and marriage assume an almost mythic quality as Cal delves into the source of his unusual body. Their story of immigration to the United States and their assimilation into American culture could be the story of any of our grandparents—looking for work, learning English, becoming Americans, worrying about their children.

The Depression, World War II, the civil rights movement, events that shaped America, serve as the backdrop as Cal’s parents grow up, marry, and have children. Cal’s search for his own identity is mirrored in the country’s search for identity. As readers, we become involved in Calliope’s life and wonder how he ends up working in Europe for the Foreign Service, having difficulty maintaining relationships with women. This is another examination of the ordeal of growing up and losing innocence that we all go through—just with a twist thrown in.