The Inner Circle

The Inner Circle
By T.C. Boyle

I'm that "now-roommate" who gave Malcolm Drown for his birthday, and a few weeks ago, I loaned him A Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao in exchange for his copy of The Inner Circle. I was extremely impressed with the writing in The Inner Circle, albeit the novel dragged on a little bit near the middle.
The plot involves a "fictionalized" account of the Kinsey studies that is being told in retrospect by John Milk, a narrator T.C. Boyle creates who explains his relationship to Kinsey as he transitions from a student into a fellow researcher on the team that records the sexual histories of thousands of subjects for what is now referred to as the Kinsey Report. Very early in the novel, you find out that Kinsey is a man of praxis who wants to sexually liberate the inner circle, which consists of the researchers and their wives, and most of humanity, but the sexual practices must remain discrete otherwise the credibility of the objective collection of interviews will be compromised.
I stopped wondering whether certain aspects of the novel are accurate or fictionalized because T.C. Boyle's characterization is complex so that the truth barely matters. The first person narration employed creates a fascinating profile for Milk. His strange sexuality and his alcoholism are just two aspects that Boyle explores in depth without making the passages seem forced. I don't want to ruin the sexual escapades of the book, so I'll just tell you that they become increasingly sensuous and will excite you regardless of your sexual preferences both through the aesthetics of the writing and the titillating content that is never crude or excessive. The use of smells in the book is fantastic whether John Milk is describing the smell of the office, a woman, or Prok's nasty herbal liquors. I'd recommend getting high before you read a few of the sex scenes later in the book; the experience becomes enveloping and I'd judge it as the most synaesthetic high read I've ever had.
The book isn't just an indulgent read for the pleasure seekers, although I was quite "aroused" during parts of the read. It raises interesting questions about the construction of sexual identity and what true sexual justice entails. Prok is a huge advocate of pansexuality and advocates that people should shed all of their indoctrination and respond to every sexual stimulus, yet John Milk and his wife, Iris, in particular have hang-ups over this premise. Despite the theory that Prok proclaims and John spews, Iris responds often very unpredictably to these claims and John too in the conclusion of the novel. Sexual liberation is more complicated than Prok simply declaring everyone pansexual and waiting for us all to fuck like bonobos. The social construction of sexuality and the indoctrination we all experience regarding proper gender and sexuality is powerful stuff that governs our psychological, even physiological responses.
The Inner Circle subtly explores this concept throughout the novel without using clunky terminology by contrasting all of these characters with Prok proclaiming we should fuck a lot with a lot of people a lot of the time. I mean, I'd like that revolution to happen immediately too, but I don't like vaginas all that much. Read the book and talk about it with lots of people of different sexualities and different genders. Oh, and religious fundamentalists. Definitely talk to them.