The Inner Circle

A dazzlingly written and wickedly sexy read from one of the giants of American contemporary fictions; 'Boyle just gets better and better' (Daily Mail) In 1939, on the campus of Indiana University, a revolution has begun. The stir is caused by Alfred Kinsey, a zoologist who is determined to take sex out of the bedroom. John Milk, a freshman, is enthralled by the professor's daring lectures and over the next two decades becomes Kinsey's right hand man. But Kinsey teaches Milk more than the art of objective enquiry. Behind closed doors, he is a sexual enthusiast of the highest order and as a member of his ‘inner circle' of researchers, Milk is called on to participate in experiments that become increasingly uninhibited ...

About the Author :
T. C. Boyle is the New York Times bestselling author of sixteen novels including The Tortilla Curtain, Drop City, San Miguel and The Terranauts, and ten collections of stories, most recently T. C. Boyle Stories II. His work has been translated into twenty-five languages and has won both the PEN/Malamud and Rea Awards in recognition of his short fiction. He is a member of the Academy of Arts and Letters and lives in California. tcboyle.com

Review :
Boyle is one of America's most fluent, dazzling and readable writers ... So vivid is his prose that we get caught up in the relationships between the circle, their unconventional marriages, their attempts to combat jealousy for the sake of society's enlightenment His satire is spot-on ... Boyle's portrait of the scientist remains rich with comic nuance A fascinating look at post-war American views on sex, along with a compelling and very humane study on the nature of desire, jealousy, love and marriage. Plus, it's stuffed with sex! This is a wonderful novel, beautifully constructed and written, and constantly compelling. Boyle just gets better and better Boyle writes with page, verve and breathtaking insight Savage satirical wit ... funny and sad and sharply cautionary Devilishly entertaining ... A blistering satire The voyeuristic frisson of the material is all pleasure ... Best of all, The Inner Circle is fun to read, and that is amazingly rare in modern literary fiction Anything goes in T.C. Boyle's imaginary world. so long as it is raw, elemental and in excess Kinsey is in some ways a perfect subject for this sly and intrepid novelist … while Boyle is fascinated by the zealous energy of perfectionists like Kinsey, he is at bottom a defender of romance against the tyranny of reason The Inner Circle is a harrowing depiction of how questionable are some of the consequences of sexual liberation … that the novel is a page-turner, with lots of sex in it, only serves Boyle’s purpose all the better The novel is a captivating and emotionally compelling exploration of a key chapter in American cultural history No one better than T.C. Boyle can hoover a sentence out of the god's imaginations and set it in glitter on the page Boyle's novel is not only a fascinating portrayal of a fatally flawed but deeply charismatic man; it is also an intricate psychological study of the complexities of sexual desire I found it fascinating how Boyle interwove fact and fiction to produce a really good read, and would recommend it both as being a good yarn and informative about Kinsey and that era in America One of the finest American contemporary novelists, his name on the cover of the book a guarantee of an intelligent and stimulating read. Most exciting of all that fact that he's getting better all the time. Most exciting of all is the fact that he's getting better all the time Boyle brilliantly evokes pioneering sex researcher Alfred Kinsey and the hothouse atmosphere he created within his circle of acolytes