If you haven’t seen the film Kinsey, I suggest you do. If you’re not a prude, that is. It’s a fascinating biopic. I watched it (again) prior to reading The Inner Circle, TC Boyle’s fictionalised account of Kinsey’s career. But I’m not sure if it helped or hindered my enjoyment of the book, since Boyle took elements of the real story and attributed them to fictional characters.

(Martin, Pomeroy, and Gebhard are now Milk, Corcoran, and Rutledge.)

The story is told from the perspective of John Milk, the first recruit to the Institute (and a naïf as well). As he is drawn deeper into Kinsey’s world, he becomes a participant (sometimes willing, sometimes not so much) in Kinsey’s research into sexual activity, with the inevitable effect on his personal relationships.

This is not for the prudish. Although they’re only words, even I felt slightly uncomfortable (but nowhere near disgusted) at times, especially during the novel’s climax (ahem), when Milk is asked, once again, to choose between Kinsey and his family.

I haven’t read quite enough TC Boyle to say I’m a rabid fan, but I definitely enjoy his fictionalised accounts on real-life characters.