Who is Dr. Hoffman from The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman: A Novel and what is their importance?

Dr. Hoffman is a researcher who became interested in the thin line between reality and fantasy in university. This interest was fueled when Dr. Hoffman met a fellow student, Mendoza, who believed that the ultimate sexual release could create a perfect energy.

Dr. Hoffman has taken his theories and those of Mendoza, combined them, and made a machine that makes it possible for the line between reality and fantasy to disappear. This machine, when focused on the capitol city, creates a world in which time becomes malleable, where the dead come back to life, and where men can have all they have ever desired just by thinking or dreaming of it. It is a world of chaos that leads to many crimes, including murder. It is also a world in which a man with a great number of desires can find complete happiness.