Middlesex

By Jeffrey Eugenides, 2003

Narrated by Cal, a hermaphrodite, this epic tale of how Calliope is transformed into Cal spans three generations and two continents. It winds from a small Greek village to the smoggy, crime-riddled streets of Detroit, past historical events, and through family secrets.

It captures the essence of Cal, a soul endowed with ''the ability to communicate between the genders, to see not with the monovision of one sex but in the stereoscope of both.