Discuss Detroit » Archives - Beginning July 2006 » Detroit born author Jeffrey Eugenides, Oct 29 « Previous Next »
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Grove
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Username: Grove

Post Number: 6
Registered: 07-2005
Posted on Monday, October 16, 2006 - 1:39 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Detroit born, Pulitzer Prize winning author Jeffrey Eugenides will read and sign books in Alumnae Hall at Marygrove College on Sunday, October 29, at 4:30pm.

He authored Middlesex and the Virgin Suicides.
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 1634
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, October 16, 2006 - 1:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Marygrove's Defining Detroit series events are always worthwhile.

For more info on the Eugenides event:
http://www.marygrove.edu/news/ releases/2006/Eugenides_Releas e.htm
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Dream
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Username: Dream

Post Number: 123
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Tuesday, October 17, 2006 - 9:25 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thank you Grove and Kathleen.
Both were excellent books and contained a lot of local references.

Jeffrey Eugenides actually grew up on Middlesex in Grosse Pointe Park. In the 2003 Pulitzer Prize winning novel Middlesex, the unique Grosse Pointe home of lead character Calliope Stephanides was a combination of the author’s own childhood home (741 Middlesex) and 567 Middlesex. Both homes were of unusual contemporary design in an area of primarily Georgian Colonials and English Tudors. Character Jimmy Zismo, as well as the underground tunnels, are reference to infamous former residents of this street. (See 701 Middlesex, 702 Middlesex and 781 Middlesex)

Jeffrey is the son of Constantine G. and Wanda F. Eugenides.
In 1968 they purchased the very contemporary style house at 741 Middlesex. They lived here until 1981.

741Middlesex Boulevard
Grosse Pointe Park

Architect - Alden B. Dow

Contemporary style
- constructed of fireproof Dow ceramics, volcano minerals
- built in 1941, square feet - 2,559

Aden B. Dow:
- (1904-1983)
- born in Midland, Michigan on April 10, 1904, to Herbert Henry Herbert Dow (Grace A. Ball). Father was the founder of The Dow Chemical Company.
- in 1931 received architectural degree from Columbia University
- spent summer of 1933 working with Frank Lloyd Wright
- opened his own architectural office in 1934.
- married to Vada Bennetton in 1982 as the first recipient of the Frank Lloyd Wright Creativity Award
- in 1983 named Architect Laureate (Michigan)
other designs include:
- 888 Pemberton, GPP
- 96 Handy, GPF
- Ann Arbor City Hall
- Alden B. Dow Home & Studio (Midland, MI)
(Public house museum)


- Jeffrey Kent Eugenides:
- born 1960 in Detroit
- attended University Liggett School
- 1993 novel The Virgin Suicides
- story set in 1970s Grosse Pointe
- made into 1999 film produced by Sofia Coppola
- starring Kirsten Durst and Josh Hartnett
- 2002 novel, Middlesex
- winner of 2003 Pulitzer Prize for fiction

567 Middlesex Boulevard
Grosse Pointe Park\

Builder/Architect - Edwin L. Salkowski
Contemporary style
- built on crawl space, 3 zone heating
- 4 bedrooms, 3.2 baths, 3 car garage
- Guest House
1953 - 3.000

701 Middlesex Boulevard
Grosse Pointe Park
Peter Corrado (Petrina Zerilli) House
Georgian Colonial with 4 large columns
- 7 bedrooms, 4.1 baths, 3 fireplaces, 3 car garage, lot 143 x 200
- house was once was connected by an underground tunnel to house across the street, (702 Middlesex)
- Italian marble is used extensively in the foyer, seven bathrooms and Garden Room
sold for $665k in 1997, 1951 - 7,600

[1951-1957 Pietro “Pete” Corrado (Petrina Zerilli) - alleged UnderBoss of Detroit Mafia Pete:
- (1903-1957)
-

[1957-1988 Anthony J. “The Bull” Corrado (Mary Grace) - alleged member of Detroit Outfit
- son of Pete Corrado

702 Middlesex Boulevard
Grosse Pointe Park
Joseph Zerilli (Josephine Finazzo) House
Italian style
- green tile roof with twin dormers
- extensive use of imported Italian marble
- brick piers and wrought iron fencing
- 5 bedrooms, 4.2 baths, 3 car garage, lot 142 x 200
sold for $695k in 1997, 1929 - 6,500
[1929-1950 Giuseppe “Joseph” “Uno” Zerilli (Josephine Finazzo)]
Joseph:
- alleged Boss/Godfather of the "Detroit Mafia" (1936-1977)
- allegedly only one of two non New York family members to sit on the powerful 7 person “National Commission”

781 Middlesex Boulevard
Grosse Pointe Park
William Tocco (Rosalie Zerilli) House
1928 - 8,000
- Italian Villa style home
- red tile roof and abundant architectural detail.
- 3 fireplaces, 5 bedrooms, 3.3 baths,
- hand carved oak moldings
- House is rumored to have underground tunnel
- Foyer:
- gold leafed wallpaper installed at cost of $15k
- Living Room (29.2 x 18):
- hand painted canvases of Tocco family on the cathedral like ceiling
- Dining Room (19 x 17):
- walls with hand painted cherubs
Rear Grounds:
- 3 foot lighted replica of the leaning tower of Piza
- garden filled with Italian marble statuary
- 32 x 62 swimming pool with a bath house
- mini grape vineyard
- wrought iron fence

[1928-1972 Guglielmo Vito “William” aka “Black Bill” Tocco (Rosalie Zerilli)]
Bill:
- (1897-1972)
- alleged Umderboss of Detroit Mob (1931-1963)
- cousin and best friend of Joseph Zerilli, who lived just down the block on the other side of this boulevard at 702 Middlesex.
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 1639
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 1:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks, Dream. As usual, your extensive database of GP houses and families provides some interesting information!!
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Mackinaw
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Username: Mackinaw

Post Number: 2172
Registered: 02-2005
Posted on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 1:32 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Middlesex has the good, bad, and ugly when it comes to home architecture. It's relatively later development compared to nearby neighborhoods helped modern architecture made inroads on this well-located boulevard.

Eugenides will be in Ann Arbor 11/2, with a talk at Rackham Grad. school that night. Middlesex is a great book.
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Sumotect
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Username: Sumotect

Post Number: 250
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 6:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Just want to chime in here about what a good book Middlesex is. Loved it.

I will be there the 29th.
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Dream
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Username: Dream

Post Number: 128
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 1:19 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Kathleen,

Thank you for the kind words.

Mackinaw,

I totally agree. Middlesex definitely consists of an eclectic mix of architectural styles. A real contrast to nearby sheets such as Berkshire and Balfour.
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 1660
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Saturday, October 28, 2006 - 10:42 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Reminder...Jeffrey Eugenides is doing a reading and book signing tomorrow, Sunday, Oct 29, 4pm, Madame Cadillac Hall, Marygrove.

Planning to be there as well...
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Sumotect
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Username: Sumotect

Post Number: 255
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Monday, October 30, 2006 - 10:15 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Attended the affair, loved it.

Feel a little ashamed that I had him sign my book. "Opa Mother------".
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 1664
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, October 30, 2006 - 2:28 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I also was there. Biggest crowd I've seen for a Defining Detroit event so far!!

I really enjoyed listening to Eugenides read passages from Middlesex as well as answer questions from the audience. He was quite personable in chatting with those of us who had books for him to sign.
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Bob_cosgrove
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Username: Bob_cosgrove

Post Number: 396
Registered: 03-2005
Posted on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 - 11:58 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The 1967 Detroit Riot is mentioned the 2003 Pulitzer Prize winning novel “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides who was originally from Grosse Pointe Park. Due to the Riot Eugenides has his fictitious Stephanides family moving from Seminole Avenue in Indian Village to Middlesex Road in Grosse Pointe Park, hence the book’s title.

He claims the family spend the whole riot on the 3rd floor attic of the home on Seminole. A review of my data base shows no one with the name Eugenides nor Stephanides living in the Village. So, I doubt if he's writing from any first hand experience.

I lived here in the Village during the Riot and I doubt any Villager spent any time in their attic. On the Monday night after the Riot began, Ginni and I put our two boys to bed on the second floor rear bedroom, turned off the lights and laid on the living room floor listening to the New Year’s Eve-like cacophony of gunfire until we tired and went to bed.

He also says there was a tank on Seminole. I doubt that, since the troops on the East Side were regiments from the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions and in 1967 the U.S. didn't have the ability to air-lift heavy tanks - if there was an armoned vehicle on Seminole, it only could have been an armored personnel carrier.

Raised in Grosse Pointe, Eugenides attended Liggett School. He has a B.A. in English from Brown University in 1983 and a M.A. in Creative Writing from Stanford University in 1986 and is or has been on the Princeton University faculty.

Eugenides could use a another degree, a B.S. in Accuracy. Sure, it’s a novel – maybe more a docu-drama, but even so, he can be taken to task for number of things like saying Indian Village has four streets – Seminole, Iroquois, Burns and Adams - claiming two of the streets are named after Englishmen. As everyone knows, Indian Village, which is south of Mack, has only three streets - Seminole, Iroquois and Burns. Adams is downtown. North of Mack, where the lots are shorter, there is a fourth street - Seneca. Burns north of Mack was once known as Newland after James Burns son-in-law.

James Burns was a Fort Street neighbor of John Owen, Sr. (1809-1892), who betweem 1847 and his death along with Burns re-assembled his late father-in-law Abraham Cook’s 3-mile long farm into his control. The southern most mile between the Detroit River and Mack would become Indian Village with the first home built in 1895. The northern boundary of the Cook farm, which was 1,200 feet wide, is present day Harper Avenue north of the Edsel Ford I-94 Freeway.

Frankly, Eugenides is a very good writer, but I found this novel stupid, amd gave up reading it after about 50 pages having better things to do with my time.

Bob Cosgrove
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Soulsauce
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Username: Soulsauce

Post Number: 179
Registered: 05-2004
Posted on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 - 1:32 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It's been a while since I read the book, but I thought the first part of the book took place in a house on Hurlbut Street.

Can anyone with the book confirm this?
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Soulsauce
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Username: Soulsauce

Post Number: 180
Registered: 05-2004
Posted on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 - 1:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Also, isn't Fischer S. of Mack considered to be part of Indian Village?

Again, can someone verify?
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Bob_cosgrove
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Username: Bob_cosgrove

Post Number: 399
Registered: 03-2005
Posted on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 - 7:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yes, the Eugenides' fictitious Stephanides family lived on Hurlbut before moving about five blocks west to Seminole.

No, Fischer is the first street outside the Village to the East. Parker is the first street outside the Village to the West. Indian village is comprised of only Seminole, Iroquois and Burns avenues running north and south.

When platted in c.1894, the Village ran from the Detroit River north to Mack. Today, the City of Detroit Historic District southern boundry begins in the middle of East Jefferson.

Orignally the Village was part of the Araham Cook Farm, which ran from the River 3 miles north to present day Harper Avenue north of the Edsel Ford I-94 Freeway.

Indian Village, was designated a City of Detroit, State of Michigan and Federal historic district between 1970 and 1972. The designation is based on Detroit's movers and shakers who built homes here and the architectts they retained including Albert Khan, Smith, Hinchman & Grylls, C. Howard Crane, Rogers & MacFarlane just to name a few.

Bob Cosgrove
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 1666
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Tuesday, October 31, 2006 - 8:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks, Bob, for all the Indian Village info to think about as I read Middlesex.

Despite Jeffrey Eugenides being a local, I wasn't attracted to his book due to its unusual subject matter. But when I ran across a nice trade paperback edition of Middlesex at a fundraiser, I bought it. Still it sat until I heard that he as to appear at the Marygrove event. I've only made it to page 60 so far, but I did read along as Jeffrey read some of the Detroit passages, and I thought they were incredibly well written. So I will continue to read Middlesex and try to elicit all the Detroit inspiration that he put into researching and writing the book.
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Soulsauce
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Username: Soulsauce

Post Number: 181
Registered: 05-2004
Posted on Wednesday, November 01, 2006 - 4:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks Bob!

My recollection of some of those details in the book are fuzzy as I read it about 3 years ago.

I did enjoy the book quite a lot, although it probably could have been edited down to at least 75 less pages. That thing is a doorstop!
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Sumotect
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Username: Sumotect

Post Number: 257
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Wednesday, November 01, 2006 - 5:32 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

A friend of mine and myself visited the house on Middlesex in G.P. I knew it was an Alden Dow project and wanted to check it out. Especially after it was featured in the book.

No guest house, no tunnels, no pneumatic room dividers, but I don’t mind. The novel is a work of the imagination. No need to revoke Eugenides’ poetic license.

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