This is quite an epic. Spanning more than a hundred years, from Greece to the USA, this is Calliope's story of her grandparents, her parents and her self, plus the small matter of the entire world around them.

I'm not going to put down work enough to review this book the way it should be reviewed, rather than I know that Jeffrey Eugenides reportedly spent 10 years researching and writing this novel, and I feel as though it's been written in an eloquent breath. It feels effortlessly written, as as such, I believe it to be a resounding success, given its many complexities, all masterfully written. I feel like the author went through many hours of brain-work trying to think of ways to explain this massive story to the reader in an intelligent, funny and often witty way.

While the reader is at all times chaperoned throughout Calliope's history by herself, it is nothing short of a God's-eye-view, where you feel history's breath in your neck all the while. As events a century old are told, they tie in with fresh ones. History repeating, countries and psyches developing.

And bodies developing. We see Calliope describe her becoming of age, to match her mind. The obscure becomes clear and then obscured again, as through all levels of life.

The language is clear, varied and simple. The stories are many, ranging from slapstick to Bergman-ish tragedy.

I'll happily recommend this to anybody.