It’s not as trippy as you’d think, judging from the subject matter. It’s about a hermaphrodite. In this case, an individual originally thought to be a girl at birth and raised that way until puberty. Eugenides does give us extensive insight into “Cal’s” sexual development, but don’t expect Anias Nin type eroticism. After all, this is Oprah’s summer reading pick for ’07. The part of the plot that relates the tale of the Turkish-Greek, immigrant grandparents is reminiscent of the divergence in another excellent Oprah choice—I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb. Basically, Middlesex is the coming-of-age story of three generations with a recessive gene. I must admit my favorite part of the novel was Cal’s high school crush on a girl referred to only as “the obscure object.”

What is your favorite Oprah book selection?