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Kinsey: A Biography: Sex: The Measure of All Things
The fascinating life of a controversial scientist whose human sexuality research ignited the sexual revolution.
Alfred Kinsey’s Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male (The Kinsey Report), published in 1948, was an explosive bestseller, followed in 1953 by his even more radical statistics on female sexuality — both based on over 18,000 case histories. But Kinsey’s exploration went much further than that. Bisexual himself, he experimented with many of the behaviours he was hearing about, and his wife and close colleagues experimented as well. Kinsey pioneered observation and filming of sexual activity, the findings anticipating, and being confirmed by Masters and Johnson thirty years later. The
revolutionary nature of his views on female sexuality could not become current until the feminist movement of the 1970s and 80s. Kinsey remains a controversial figure today.
Alfred Kinsey’s Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male (The Kinsey Report), published in 1948, was an explosive bestseller, followed in 1953 by his even more radical statistics on female sexuality — both based on over 18,000 case histories. But Kinsey’s exploration went much further than that. Bisexual himself, he experimented with many of the behaviours he was hearing about, and his wife and close colleagues experimented as well. Kinsey pioneered observation and filming of sexual activity, the findings anticipating, and being confirmed by Masters and Johnson thirty years later. The
revolutionary nature of his views on female sexuality could not become current until the feminist movement of the 1970s and 80s. Kinsey remains a controversial figure today.
528 pages, Paperback
First published September 8, 1998
About the author
Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy
26 books5 followersBritish author born in 1933, nephew of the English garden writer Robert Gathorne-Hardy.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 1, 2013
Excellent book - I loved learning that the film KINSEY - is based on the biography of Alfred Kinsey by Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy. Kinsey was a complex character & a brilliant scientist - and I am proud that he began his renowned sex research right here in my home town, Bloomington, Indiana.
(I'm also a bit proud of the fact that his grand-daughter - Wendy Kinsey Corning is my wonderful and very caring gynecologist!)
From Publishers Weekly
Beyond sex researcher Alfred Kinsey's motives—to enlighten people about sex and thereby sweep away crippling fear and ignorance about it—lay a troubled individual whose research helped him conquer his own psychological demons. In this companion book to the film on Kinsey's life currently in theaters, Kinsey biographer Gathorne-Hardy, Newsweek editor Wolfe and director/screenwriter Condon cover these facts and others with fascinating detail. Both Wolfe's biographical essay and Condon's script dramatize Kinsey's struggle with a puritanical father and his romance with graduate student Clara McMillen, who became his lifelong partner and support. Their relationship survived a difficult early sexual adjustment, as well as Kinsey's homosexual liaisons, while Kinsey's 1948 report Sexual Behavior in the Human Male made waves across the country. The book's second half is devoted to the shooting script, which offers a dramatic contrast to the precise, academic nature of Gathorne Hardy's introduction and Wolfe's essay. In a q&a, Condon talks of his affinity for portraying misfits and outsiders and his decision to adopt a classical Merchant/Ivory filmmaking approach. No biographical work—print or film—can capture all aspects of such a contradictory person, but this book certainly ranks as one of the most illuminating studies ever published about its complex, groundbreaking subject. 32 pages of color photos.
(I'm also a bit proud of the fact that his grand-daughter - Wendy Kinsey Corning is my wonderful and very caring gynecologist!)
From Publishers Weekly
Beyond sex researcher Alfred Kinsey's motives—to enlighten people about sex and thereby sweep away crippling fear and ignorance about it—lay a troubled individual whose research helped him conquer his own psychological demons. In this companion book to the film on Kinsey's life currently in theaters, Kinsey biographer Gathorne-Hardy, Newsweek editor Wolfe and director/screenwriter Condon cover these facts and others with fascinating detail. Both Wolfe's biographical essay and Condon's script dramatize Kinsey's struggle with a puritanical father and his romance with graduate student Clara McMillen, who became his lifelong partner and support. Their relationship survived a difficult early sexual adjustment, as well as Kinsey's homosexual liaisons, while Kinsey's 1948 report Sexual Behavior in the Human Male made waves across the country. The book's second half is devoted to the shooting script, which offers a dramatic contrast to the precise, academic nature of Gathorne Hardy's introduction and Wolfe's essay. In a q&a, Condon talks of his affinity for portraying misfits and outsiders and his decision to adopt a classical Merchant/Ivory filmmaking approach. No biographical work—print or film—can capture all aspects of such a contradictory person, but this book certainly ranks as one of the most illuminating studies ever published about its complex, groundbreaking subject. 32 pages of color photos.
March 14, 2019
Held my interest. Kinsey was a sick, twisted man. Pedophilia was ok. Coercing people into sexual acts ok, especially if it's your wife or one of your employees or their wives.
March 31, 2008
A really long book - but fascinating from an anthropological standpoint. I saw the movie and was dying to know how much of it was true and what was creative license. Sounds like it was an interesting family to be a part of.
April 16, 2010
This was a biography of Alfred Kinsey, the sex-scientist of the 40's and 50's. We had seen a movie of his life recently. My husband,Mike, thought he was a pervert. I was more sympathetic. His own homosexuality and view of sexuality probably skewed the results of his work.
July 11, 2007
Right up there with Oscar Wilde’s bio, and also serves as a fascinating portrait of postwar America.
November 14, 2008
Very interesting biography of a man unafraid to be different who became obsessed with his life work. Also a very good summary of his work and the reason it was so significant for the time.
October 5, 2009
interesting subject matter makes up for poorly written text
January 22, 2015
Really interesting read. The author occasionally complains about how wrong other authors have gotten Kinsey, and falls on the sympathetic side of balanced.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews