Book Club: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974.

 

So begins the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides and her truly unique family secret, born on the slopes of Mount Olympus and passed on through three generations.

 

Growing up in ‘70s Michigan, Calliope's special inheritance will turn her into Cal, the narrator of this intersex, inter-generational epic of immigrant life in 20th century America.

 

Content note: this book contains themes of gender identity, the nature vs nurture debate and rebirth.

 

Please note that content notes are based on information available online. LU Arts staff do not read the novels in advance of them being chosen by our Book Club.

 

 

Our Book Club is open to all current and former students and staff of Loughborough University. We typically meet every six weeks to discuss a book chosen by our members; these meetings take place virtually by video call rather than in person. The books chosen are usually, but not always, novels. You will need to become a member in order to access the online meetings; details of how to do this are under the booking information on the left.

 

To join our Book Club, please subscribe to our mailing list (which uses JISC-mail) using the link below.

 

Join the Book Club mailing list (https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa-jisc.exe?SUBED1=LUARTSBOOKCLUB&A=1)

 

Following this you will receive email confirmation of your subscription with further information. From then on you will receive all emails sent to the group, including dates of future meetings, book choices and login details for the online meetings. Please join the mailing list at least 48 hours prior to the meeting date to make sure you receive the login details in time.

 

 

Our virtual meetings take place via Zoom. You do not need a Zoom account in order to take part but you should allow yourself a few minutes extra to download the free browser if you haven't used it before. If you do want to create an account and familiarise yourself with Zoom's features in advance then you can sign up here.

 

All our Zoom events have automatic closed captions - you can turn these on or off yourself during the event by clicking on CC at the bottom of the screen.

 

If you have any access requirements or anything you would like us to be aware of when running the event, please let us know in advance by emailing luarts@lboro.ac.uk and we will do our best to accommodate them.