Middlesex (novel)
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Middlesex is a Pulitzer Prize–winning novel by Jeffrey Eugenides published in 2002. The book is a bestseller, with more than four million copies sold since its publication. Its characters and events a
First US edition
Eugenides found the environment at MacDowell Colony productive.
Cal's grandparents flee from Smyrna, boarding a passenger ship, as the city burns in flames.
Although the novel is not autobiographical, Jeffrey Eugenides based many details of Middlesex on his own life
Great American Novel
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The "Great American Novel" is the term for a canonical novel that generally embodies and examines the essence and character of the United States. The term was coined by John William De Forest in an 18
Middlesex (novel)
…York Times Book Review considered Middlesex one of the best books of 2002, and some scholars believed the novel should be considered for the title of Great American Novel. Generally, reviewers felt that the novel succeeded in portraying its Greek immigrant drama and were also impressed with Eugenides' depiction of his…
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe is commonly cited as the Great American Novel—John William De Forest saw it as the closest possible novel.
De Forest
James
Philip Roth satirized the term with his 1973 novel The Great American Novel.