Thursday, July 17, 2008

The Abstinence Teacher


The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta (2007)

Ruth is a sad, divorced, lonely, liberal sex-ed teacher in New England trying to stand up against a growing congregation of Evangelical Christians in her community. The novel focuses on her struggles, but also zeroes in on Tim, a born-again Christian soccer coach whose life is intertwined with Ruth's. The characters are strong and believable, but the book is also predictable and rather bland. It would also lead a reader to believe that all middle-age suburban men and women think about is sex and all the different people they want to have sex with that they aren't married to (a la Perrotta's successful Little Children). Instead of coming across as a hero, Ruth just seemed self-righteous and annoying so I found it hard to really enjoy the novel.

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