Rita Wilson’s `Middlesex’ Ventures
Today’s announcement comes from an unlikely source for a book Web site: a fashion magazine’s review of a movie.
Women’s Wear Daily this morning wrote up a bit about the upcoming feature film, big-screen debut of the Broadway show Mamma Mia! The hook with this article was Rita Wilson - producer of the film, and wife of Tom Hanks - attending a screening of the movie with her family.
But where does the fiction news come into play? Well, Rita Wilson, who previously produced My Big Fat Greek Wedding, recently acquired the screenplay rights to the bestselling fiction novel Middlesex (2002) by Jeffrey Eugenides (also Greek, by coincidence).
Take the most literal breaking down of the title, and you’ve got the theme: the main character was born intersexed, meaning his (we first meet him as Cal, a 41-year-old heterosexual male) chromosomes did not fully develop as either male or female. He was raised as Calliope, a daughter; but now lives as Cal, a son.
The unusual story promises not to focus just on the struggles involved with living a confusing life where even the narrator is unsure of his identity. Other tales of family relationships, coming-of-age in the late 20th century, and factual bits of history are woven into Cal’s story.
The novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2003, and was selected as a read in Oprah’s Book Club for summer 2007.
There’s no timeline on the film’s production yet, so you have plenty of time to grab a copy and get reading!
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