GrokNation Virtual Book Club: Middlesex

As many of you may have heard, we’re trying something new here at GrokNation – in addition to the posts we’re providing to you regularly to encourage deep thought and consideration of important issues, we’re also launching a virtual book club for anyone who wants to grok the themes along with us. As the inaugural book of our Book Club, I have chosen Jeffrey Eugenides’ 2002 novel, Middlesex (link to Amazon – if you use this link to buy the book, a portion of your purchase price will go toward supporting our work here at GrokNation, so thank you!).

Middlesex won many awards, including the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Literature, and has been called by some one of the great novels of this century.

I chose Middlesex for a few reasons.

First, it is a wonderful read. I love the places books can take you and this book takes you far into a world very different from probably most of ours. We follow the history of a family and how it all leads to the life of our lead character. I love books that feature family stories, as the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and JD Salinger do.

Second, it is on a grok-worthy topic. I didn’t choose this book in order for the issue of a man born “intersex” (with ambiguous genitalia) to stir up controversy or become a political issue. Rather, things that make my brain and heart work the hardest are the ones that require me to open my mind and learn about something I may know very little about. Middlesex gives us all the opportunity to learn about a biological event that leads to enormous social problems that are also very relatable.

Finally, Middlesex is a book with tremendous heart. It is touching and it is deep. It is funny and it is tragic. It follows one person’s journey from their bloodline and from their history into a future that is constantly being redefined.

I hope you enjoy Middlesex as much as I did, and I hope it sparks wonderful conversations, both in the comments section below and in other spaces, on- and offline.

Editor’s Note: While for most of you this will be a virtual book club – we’ll all read on our own and discuss in our various online spaces – if you know local people who want to join you in your reading and analysis of Middlesex and want to meet in person, don’t let us stop you! And if you do wrangle an in-person group, take a photo and share it with us!