The Inner Circle. [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Following his spirited counterculture drama Drop City (2003), Boyle fictionalizes a historical figure as he did in The Road to Wellville (1994), an unforgettable portrait of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, this time presenting an intrepid and astute interpretation of the revolutionary work and fanatic personality of sex researcher Dr. Alfred Kinsey. A zoologist at Indiana University called Prok by his intimates, he is seen through the worshipful eyes of John Milk, a handsome, obedient, and clueless English major who becomes Prok's first disciple. Milk joins Prok in his prodigious effort to interview thousands of men and women about their sexual experiences as World War II rages, and Milk is both dedicated to the project and conflicted over Prok's attempt to control every aspect of his life, not to mention his insistence on their having sex. Milk is a meticulous and moody narrator, and Boyle has never written more ravishing and poignant descriptions than those depicting Milk's inner turmoil as reflected in Indiana's extreme weather and the tawdry settings in which they conduct their tricky research, which, as Prok becomes famous, grows increasingly voyeuristic and exhibitionistic. Adamantly clinical, Prok dismisses all sexually related emotions as products of uptight social conventions, but as Milk and his wife, Iris, the novel's moral compass, discover, there's no divorcing feelings from sexuality. Boyle's vision of Kinsey as both genius and cult leader is mesmerizing and chilling as he discerningly explores the consequences of a mechanistic view of humanity, and of signing one's life, and conscience, over to a zealot. Strong medicine from a phenomenally artistic, morally inquisitive, and unfailingly compassionate writer. Donna Seaman
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'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' Uncut 'Boyle writes with pace, verve and breathtaking insight' Independent 'This is a wonderful novel, beautifully constructed and written, and constantly compelling. Boyle just gets better and better' Daily Mail '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!' Daily Mirror

Die Geschichte von John Milk, einem schüchternen, sexuell unerfahrenen jungen Mann, der in den 40er Jahren Assistent von Alfred C. Kinsey wurde, dem berühmten Zoologen und Pionier in der Erforschung der menschlichen Sexualität.

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.

T. C. Boyle, geb. 1948 in Peekskill, New York im Hudson Valley, war Lehrer an der dortigen High-School und publizierte während dieser Zeit seine ersten Kurzgeschichten. Heute lebt er in Kalifornien und unterrichtet an der University of Southern California in Los Angeles Creative Writing.