Middlesex | Literary Criticism & Book Review

Middlesex Critical Overview

Reviews for the novel have been decidedly positive. Many critics praise Eugenides' characterization of Cal. Max Watman, in New Criterion, writes that in this “first-rate” novel, “Eugenides normalizes the experience of a hermaphrodite and turns Cal into something other than a freak.” James Wood, in the New Republic agrees, insisting, “Eugenides makes Calliope credible: she is not merely a theme.” Joanne Wilkinson, in her review for Booklist, concludes that Eugenides “proves himself to be a wildly imaginative writer” and finds “perhaps what is most surprising about [his] offbeat but engrossing book is how he establishes, seemingly effortlessly, the credibility of his narrator.” He is, she claims, “likely to hold readers in thrall” with “a sure yet light-handed touch” in his “affecting characterization of a brave and lonely soul and [his] vivid depiction of exactly what it means to be both male and female.” In her review of the novel in...
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