round one: the news from the inner circle

The News from Paraguay: A Novel by Lily Tuck

This book starts off well enough as the story of European woman involved with a Paraguayan general, but devolves into nonstop debauchery, pestilence, and gruesome death. On the upside, during the time I was reading this book, I attended a classical guitar recital. Some of the selections were by the Paraguayan guitarist Agustin Barrios, which I enjoyed very much and paid closer attention to as a result of the Paraguay connection. Look into Barrios; pass on this novel.

The Inner Circle by T.C. Boyle

Before reading this novel--a fictionalized account of the research conducted by Alfred Kinsey--my entire awareness of Kinsey came from the lyrics of the Cole Porter tune Too Darn Hot.

 

According to the Kinsey report
ev'ry average man you know
much prefers to play his favorite sport
when the temperature is low

After reading this novel and watching a PBS special and the Kinsey biopic starring Liam Neeson, I probably know more than I want to about the ground-breaking researcher and his work.

 

As you may imagine there is copius coupling depicted. The most of the names and some of the details have been changed. [This is why I did the additional research--to see how much things were changed].

 

Sex, pestilence, and death versus sex, sex, and sex.

Winner: The Inner Circle