Hermaphrodeity

by Alan H. Friedman

Hermaphrodeity is the seriously comic tale of Millie/Willie, a girl who has no idea until shes sixteen that besides being fully female, she was born with undescended male organs. And she now stubbornly refuses to let surgeons make her single-sexed. Millie/Willie isnt transsexual. Shes double-sexed. In a visionary comedy Millie/Willie battles, inch by inch, from sensitive girlhood . . . to tough punk in a boys gang . . . to Harvard freshman who impregnates himself . . . to goddess seized for a primitive erotic ritual . . . to archaeologist who unearths the ultimate secret of manwomankind. A comic epic, Hermaphrodeity was a finalist for the National Book Award.

498 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Alan H. Friedman is a novelist, short story writer, and literary critic. He taught English and creative writing as a professor at Columbia University, Swarthmore College, and the University of Illinois, Chicago, where he served as Director of the Creative Writing Program in the Department of English. He reviewed fiction for the New York Times Book Review from 1978 to 1998. He was nominated for the National Book Award in 1973 for his novel Hermaphrodeity. His short story Willy Nilly, published in the January, 1968 edition of New American Review, served as the basis for the 1987 film Something Special, directed by Paul Schneider.

He received his B.A. in English Literature from Harvard University in 1949, his M.A. in English Literature from Columbia University in 1950, and his Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of California, Berkeley in 1964.

Reviews

[Roxanne]

I don't usually stop reading books half way through, but I just can't do this. I could force myself to finish it, and I really do want to know what else happens and how it ends, but I give up.

I tried to find a synopsis, but none of them gave any information past the point I read to. The best one I found gave up mid-summary, ending early with "etcetera, etcetera..." which made me feel less alone.

Flowery, utterly vain, just wanted to hear themselves talk... I'm over half way through. If you read it, tell me how it ends.

[Corey]

This wild novel from 1972 reminded me of the metafictions of John Barth and Terry Southern. It is the story of Millie/Willie Niemann, who was born with the sexual organs of both sexes. From this premise Friedman constructs enough outrageous, freewheeling story for four novels. Sometimes it reads like Woolf's Orlando, filtered through the 1960s. Its subject is sex, sex and identity. At times it's a bit of a slog, at times its blue prose approaches purple, but the energy behind it is undeniable. A couple times I wanted to quit but I am glad I persevered.