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ANTI-KINSEY ACTIVISTS might be more sympathetic to the unquestionably heterosexual T.C. Boyle’s recent novel, The Inner Circle, which presents Kinsey in a less-approving light than does Condon’s film. Told from the point of view of a fictitious Kinsey associate based loosely on Clyde Martin, the novel at times seems more about power than about sex. The protagonist, John Milk, compelled by idealism and Kinsey’s zeal and charm, becomes the scientist’s first acolyte. As their bond intensifies, professionally, personally, and sexually, he allows Kinsey to subvert his individuality, dominating his family life and his ethical judgment. Whatever Kinsey’s charismatic powers, however, Boyle seems unwilling to absolve his followers of responsibility.

"[Milk is] a type, the type of the disciple, the type of the follower," he says. "I’m always suspicious of that; I always wonder what’s the psychology of the follower? And what is the certain self-rationalization the follower goes through? On the other hand, who is the leader and how charismatic must that leader be? And how autocratic and how powerful?... Had [Milk] not been so attractive to Kinsey, had he not met Kinsey, he probably would have been some guy working in his hometown, married, and never known the difference."

Whatever the truth about the man who inspired his novel, Boyle has no intention of offering comfort either to pro- or anti-Kinsey groups. Instead, he created a work of art dramatizing themes that occur in much of his other fiction, such as the novels Riven Rock, The Road to Wellville (also a movie), and Drop City. "[The Inner Circle is] not a roman à clef," he says, "and yet I am using some features of the actual inner circle. But I made them my own fictional creations with different aspects of their lives and different biographies.... I’m using Kinsey to work out something about notions of our animal nature, our non-spiritual nature, whatever you want to call it, and notions of what a relationship is, what marriage is, and so on."

But doesn’t he see the subject as a lightning rod for the religious right, moral conservatives, and ...

"Dr. Judith Reisman? She’s attacking Condon, trying to, because she hates Kinsey and thinks he’s a pedophile," he says. "I have had no contact with her, I don’t know whether she’ll read my book or care, but of course people like this don’t really read the books. I don’t think the ayatollah really read The Satanic Verses before he put the fatwa on Salman Rushdie."

Indeed, Boyle sees Kinsey’s case as an example of the link between sexual and political repression. "Of course, Kinsey was accused of being a Communist by certain senators, because he was undermining the great family values of America," he says. "Simply by presenting our sexual habits. For telling the truth. And so there was a real scandal with the first book, but it was a real titillating scandal — he sold lots of copies. And after all, everyone suspected that men were dogs anyway. Twenty percent of Kinsey’s respondents said that they had had sex with animals, a wonderful statistic. But even more wonderful is that 60 percent of that 20 percent had had sex with cattle, but 80 percent had sex with swine. That’s where it gets really interesting.

"And as you know, the female volume sold plenty, even more. But with the female volume people drew back because they didn’t want to know about their sister and their daughter and their mother having had sex with a German shepherd, they didn’t want to know about this and they were offended by it. They didn’t want to know the facts. And yes, he was accused of being a Communist on several occasions, by the right wing."

Of course, the conflict between repressors and the repressed is never-ending, Boyle suggests, with the current anti-Kinsey furor just another phase in the process. "Sexual repression is political repression: someone is imposing their morality on you," he says. "It was primarily church-based in Kinsey’s time. And I think it still is, at least in a hypocritical way it is, because the first thing the right wing reaches for is God. How can you argue with our president? God tells him what to do. There are always right-wing nuts trying to curtail what you want to do and curtail your free expression and censor whatever you’re doing, that’s been going on forever."

Still, The Inner Circle was not designed as a salvo in that struggle. "I have stood opposed to Bush in a very fanatical way since he emerged on the political scene, and maybe the book will help with that," Boyle says. "[But] I don’t think it’s a political book. You have to understand that I don’t plan my books far in advance or have an agenda; I just let it flow and see what happens. What I learned from writing this book is that sex is good. I kind of suspected it beforehand, but now I know."

Alfred Kinsey would surely agree.

Peter Keough can be reached at pkeough[a]phx.com