Book set in Detroit, United States. Reviewed on 2019/06: https://www.instagram.com/p/BzBPFYggR8o/
I have read over 60 books on #genderqueerlit in the last two months and none of them ever mentioned the word hermaphrodite. OK, maybe in The Queen’s Tiara book, they do use it. But you have to understand that #almqvist wrote that book in the mid 19th-century. 2002’s #middlesex by #jeffreyeugenides not only uses that word predominantly, it seems to both thrive on it and it’s the veil in which he decides to develop #callie . Because of the books I’ve previously read, it would be impossible for me to give Middlesex a good review especially based in the ways #eugenides decides to depict his main #intersex character. I think it’s so telling to see all the #medical books Eugenides enumerates as his sources to write this book. The scenes in which Cal talks about his body, sex and so on feel too exposed, too intrusive, too voyeuristic, too medical and devoid of humanity. Eugenides wrote only one good book here and that is an #immigant story about a #greekamerican family making end meets in a hyper #american city like #detroit . That book alone here felt compelling and well-structured. My hunch is that Eugenides decided to add an intersex character much later on, did some scant research and added it up as best he could. And by doing so, he gives neither story the full attention and treatment they deserve. I just wish the readers, we will demand first intersex stories written by intersex people themselves or at least writers that aim beyond the superficial and cold treatment of pressing questions and issues. #missedthemark#wouldlikemymoneyback#notanintersexbook #americanliterature#hownottowtiteaboutintersexpeople#notlgbtqi #missedopportunity#readsomethingelse
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