Status
Available
Call number
Publication
St. Martin's Press (2007), Edition: First Edition, 368 pages
Description
Ruth Ramsey is the human sexuality teacher at the local high school. Her daughter's soccer coach, Tom Mason, is a former bad boy who hit rock bottom and was saved. Now a member of the local evangelical Christian church that sees Ruth Ramsey and her sex ed classes as a target, the two become bitter adversaries. But when controversy on the soccer field forces them to actually talk to each other, an uneasy friendship begins to develop.
Media reviews
What a movie it will be: Divorced suburban mother of two fights the Tabernacle crazies who have taken over her school.
The problem is that while Perrotta's novels may make for good movies, they don't make for very good books.
User reviews
LibraryThing member karieh
“Until she’d seen those girls, those beautiful young athletes, sitting on the grass in the sunshine, being coerced by adults they trusted into praying to the God of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and the Republican Party – the God of War and Abstinence and Shame and Willful Ignorance, the
Had Tom Perotta hooked my brain up to some sort of mental tape recorder – he couldn’t have gotten any closer to my exact thoughts regarding the current state of organized religion in our country. So it seems a bit repetitive, then, to say that Ruth, the main character whose thought the above quote is, and I, have a bit in common.
“The Abstinence Teacher” takes a look at a small town version of one of the current cultural battles of our country. The Progressives against the Conservatives plays itself out in every newscast, every talk show, and every newspaper. It’s a battle that seems destined never to be won, yet the battle is heating up and the stakes are getting higher.
As agnostic who was unable to watch more than a half hour of “Jesus Camp” – even under the :Know Thine Enemy” plan – I feel Ruth’s terror when she sees her daughters being preached to by an born-again Christian. I feel the urge that propels her to grab her daughter away from the kneeling group. I feel the fake small that hurts her face when she is forced to smile for the sake of her daughters as she interacts with shiny, happy people from another evangelical church. I feel her liberal pain as she sticks to her ideals and allows her daughters to explore a religion she does not believe in – one that has eroded her job and her life.
I think Perotta does a very fair job making Ruth realize that she must practice what she preaches (!) and let her daughters experiment with organized religion. As much as she disagrees with the close minded and determinedly ignorant members of the born again churches in her small town – she knows that she has to rise above them and allow her children to make their own mistakes. Not that the other side would do the same, of course.
Perotta also does an excellent job not making me hate Tim, the born-again soccer coach whose actions lead to Ruth’s conflict with her daughters. He is a former drug and alcohol addict turned Jesus addict. Every day is a struggle for him as he tries to find something real in his life, something that fits. He nearly destroyed his life and his family with drugs and booze…yet is increasingly unsure that the religion he is ingesting is any better for him.
Both Ruth and Tim are deeply flawed characters. They are each searching, even in their forties to find who they really are. Is she a Sex Education teacher that doesn’t have sex but doesn’t believe that abstinence works? Is he a born again Christian who can’t stop thinking about sex – unless it’s sex with his perfect Christian wife?
The two main characters of this book first seem to represent the extreme sides of the religious debate in our country…yet it soon becomes obvious that few people fit into those extremes. Even at his most religious point, Tim can’t bring himself to hate homosexuals the way his church demands that he does. Even at her most rebellious point after dealing with the anti-information group called “Wise Choices” – Ruth can’t let go of her inhibitions or her sense of decency.
The other quote from this book that seared itself into my mind was this: “…it was so galling to be “teaching” today’s prepackaged lesson, whose misleading and dangerous title she’d scribbled on the blackboard at the beginning with a shaky, self-loathing hand: “THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SAFE SEX.” Well, of course there wasn’t, not if you defined safety as the impossibility of anything bad ever happening to anyone. There was no such thing as risk-free automobile travel, either, but we didn’t teach our kids to stay out of cars. We taught them defensive driving skills and told them a million times to wear their seat belts, because driving was an important part of life, and everyone needed to learn how to do it as safely as possible.”
“Knowledge is power.” I will always firmly believe that and hope that the sense of that phrase will eventually overtake the wave of anti-learning, anti-fact, and blind acceptance that seems to be overtaking our country. Maybe it will take more Ruths and Tims to ratchet down the hatred and allow us to see those whose opinions are the opposite of ours as more than just the enemy. Obviously, that’s something I need to learn as well. This book may be a good first step.
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God Who loved Everyone Except the Homosexuals, Who sent People to Hell If They Didn’t Believe In Him, and Let Murderers and Child Rapists Into Heaven If They Did, the God Who Made Women As An Afterthought, and Then Cursed Them With The Pain Of Childbirth, the God Who Would Never Have Let Girls Play Soccer In The First Place if It Had Been up to Him…”Had Tom Perotta hooked my brain up to some sort of mental tape recorder – he couldn’t have gotten any closer to my exact thoughts regarding the current state of organized religion in our country. So it seems a bit repetitive, then, to say that Ruth, the main character whose thought the above quote is, and I, have a bit in common.
“The Abstinence Teacher” takes a look at a small town version of one of the current cultural battles of our country. The Progressives against the Conservatives plays itself out in every newscast, every talk show, and every newspaper. It’s a battle that seems destined never to be won, yet the battle is heating up and the stakes are getting higher.
As agnostic who was unable to watch more than a half hour of “Jesus Camp” – even under the :Know Thine Enemy” plan – I feel Ruth’s terror when she sees her daughters being preached to by an born-again Christian. I feel the urge that propels her to grab her daughter away from the kneeling group. I feel the fake small that hurts her face when she is forced to smile for the sake of her daughters as she interacts with shiny, happy people from another evangelical church. I feel her liberal pain as she sticks to her ideals and allows her daughters to explore a religion she does not believe in – one that has eroded her job and her life.
I think Perotta does a very fair job making Ruth realize that she must practice what she preaches (!) and let her daughters experiment with organized religion. As much as she disagrees with the close minded and determinedly ignorant members of the born again churches in her small town – she knows that she has to rise above them and allow her children to make their own mistakes. Not that the other side would do the same, of course.
Perotta also does an excellent job not making me hate Tim, the born-again soccer coach whose actions lead to Ruth’s conflict with her daughters. He is a former drug and alcohol addict turned Jesus addict. Every day is a struggle for him as he tries to find something real in his life, something that fits. He nearly destroyed his life and his family with drugs and booze…yet is increasingly unsure that the religion he is ingesting is any better for him.
Both Ruth and Tim are deeply flawed characters. They are each searching, even in their forties to find who they really are. Is she a Sex Education teacher that doesn’t have sex but doesn’t believe that abstinence works? Is he a born again Christian who can’t stop thinking about sex – unless it’s sex with his perfect Christian wife?
The two main characters of this book first seem to represent the extreme sides of the religious debate in our country…yet it soon becomes obvious that few people fit into those extremes. Even at his most religious point, Tim can’t bring himself to hate homosexuals the way his church demands that he does. Even at her most rebellious point after dealing with the anti-information group called “Wise Choices” – Ruth can’t let go of her inhibitions or her sense of decency.
The other quote from this book that seared itself into my mind was this: “…it was so galling to be “teaching” today’s prepackaged lesson, whose misleading and dangerous title she’d scribbled on the blackboard at the beginning with a shaky, self-loathing hand: “THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SAFE SEX.” Well, of course there wasn’t, not if you defined safety as the impossibility of anything bad ever happening to anyone. There was no such thing as risk-free automobile travel, either, but we didn’t teach our kids to stay out of cars. We taught them defensive driving skills and told them a million times to wear their seat belts, because driving was an important part of life, and everyone needed to learn how to do it as safely as possible.”
“Knowledge is power.” I will always firmly believe that and hope that the sense of that phrase will eventually overtake the wave of anti-learning, anti-fact, and blind acceptance that seems to be overtaking our country. Maybe it will take more Ruths and Tims to ratchet down the hatred and allow us to see those whose opinions are the opposite of ours as more than just the enemy. Obviously, that’s something I need to learn as well. This book may be a good first step.
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LibraryThing member nicole0112
The Abstinence Teacher follows the backlash that occurs when Ruth Ramsay, a sexual education teacher who takes great pleasure in still looking hot in her 40's, states in class that oral sex can be enjoyable for people. Ruth believes that a fully informative sexual education class is imperative,
Oh, Tom Perrota! I wanted to like this book, but I didn't. I loved Little Children, but maybe I just don't get The Abstinence Teacher. I kept waiting for the real book to begin, or the characters to evolve--or even just become realistic. Perrota is a master of suburbia fiction, but he fell short with The Abstinence Teacher. Little Children really delved into each character and their way of life, The Abstinence Teacher simply skimmed the surface of the incredibly timely issue of sexual education and the skirmishes between the political right and left. The basis of the book, which focuses on the controversy between sexual education and religion faith would appear to be chock full of tension and conflict, but Perrota somehow manages to negate most of it by never really fleshing out the arguments for either side of the issues. The reader is left with a glimmer of what the book could have been, and I was left disappointed by a author who is talented enough to truly write a thoughtful book on the subject. Read it, but don't expect to be impressed.
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while the rest of her suburban town does not. Conflict ensues. Mostly, the focus in the book is on Ruth and her relationship with Tim, who is her daughter's soccer coach and is a born again Christian and ex-drug addicted rocker, as they engage in a typical on-again off-again, do you like me? circle one: yes or no, relationship.Oh, Tom Perrota! I wanted to like this book, but I didn't. I loved Little Children, but maybe I just don't get The Abstinence Teacher. I kept waiting for the real book to begin, or the characters to evolve--or even just become realistic. Perrota is a master of suburbia fiction, but he fell short with The Abstinence Teacher. Little Children really delved into each character and their way of life, The Abstinence Teacher simply skimmed the surface of the incredibly timely issue of sexual education and the skirmishes between the political right and left. The basis of the book, which focuses on the controversy between sexual education and religion faith would appear to be chock full of tension and conflict, but Perrota somehow manages to negate most of it by never really fleshing out the arguments for either side of the issues. The reader is left with a glimmer of what the book could have been, and I was left disappointed by a author who is talented enough to truly write a thoughtful book on the subject. Read it, but don't expect to be impressed.
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LibraryThing member julie10reads
Tom Perrotta has been described as a skilfull commentator on suburbia. I find that demeaning, I don’t know why. Let’s say instead that Tom Perrotta understands the rough terrain of family relationships.
The Abstinence Teacher features Ruth, an intelligent and liberal high school sex-ed teacher
There are some quite funny bits (like when Tim alludes to Spinal Tap and turning the dial up to 11 and the chapter called Hot Christian Sex) but it’s not the type of book that lends itself to posting quotes. These are everyday scenarios that most of us have experienced either as child or parent and spouse. It’s the way Mr. Perrotta reveals the characters’ thoughts and queues the scenes that produces a wonderfully understated and entertaining story.
I have seen references to a proposed film of The Abstinence Teacher with Sandra Bullock and Steve Carrell. Sure to be a funny movie. However, the book explores different kinds of relationships among blended families, colleagues and friends. I doubt the movie will do more than caricaturize these elements.
I was impressed by Mr. Perrotta’s restraint: far from ridiculing evangelical Christians (that approach would be too crude), through Tim he helps us understand what this church could offer (promise?).
8 out of 10 and recommended to readers who enjoy subtle satire.
The Abstinence Teacher features Ruth, an intelligent and liberal high school sex-ed teacher
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forced to teach a new, abstinence-based, curriculum and Tim Mason, former rock band member and drug addict, who now rehabilitated, seeks support from the pastor of an evangelical Christian church. Tim is the soccer coach for his daughter’s team. Ruth’s daughter plays for the same team. Ruth’s and Tim’s world collide when he spontaneously asks the team to say a prayer after a stunning victory.There are some quite funny bits (like when Tim alludes to Spinal Tap and turning the dial up to 11 and the chapter called Hot Christian Sex) but it’s not the type of book that lends itself to posting quotes. These are everyday scenarios that most of us have experienced either as child or parent and spouse. It’s the way Mr. Perrotta reveals the characters’ thoughts and queues the scenes that produces a wonderfully understated and entertaining story.
I have seen references to a proposed film of The Abstinence Teacher with Sandra Bullock and Steve Carrell. Sure to be a funny movie. However, the book explores different kinds of relationships among blended families, colleagues and friends. I doubt the movie will do more than caricaturize these elements.
I was impressed by Mr. Perrotta’s restraint: far from ridiculing evangelical Christians (that approach would be too crude), through Tim he helps us understand what this church could offer (promise?).
8 out of 10 and recommended to readers who enjoy subtle satire.
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LibraryThing member sturlington
Tom Perrotta is a likable writer, but I find that his books don’t have much sticking power. For me, The Abstinence Teacher didn’t even begin to measure up to my favorite of Perrotta’s novels, The Wishbones, or the very engaging Little Children, his previous release.
The Abstinence Teacher is
The main thing that irritated me about the narrative was the way it jumped around in time without much rhyme or reason. Just as I’m settling into a scene, I’m thrust two days into the past, or the action segues into the previous night. And the characters themselves seemed ineffectual and unable to take a strong stand on any of their supposedly closely held beliefs, or even on their attraction to each other. Which was probably the point, but I think this theme is getting a little worn out in Perrotta’s fiction. We’ve had the futility of modern suburban life before; let’s move on to some new material.
Which isn’t to say that I didn’t like the book. I actually liked it well enough while I was reading it, and I tore through it pretty fast. But when it was over, it was the literary equivalent of popcorn: not filling, not satisfying, no sticking power. I want to love Tom Perrotta as a writer, I really do, but his books just don’t awaken that level of passion in me, no matter how much I try.
The Abstinence Teacher is
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set in suburban New York. A high school sex education teacher runs afoul of a local fundamentalist church and finds herself teaching an abstinence-only curriculum that she absolutely does not agree with. Then she discovers that her daughter’s attractive soccer coach is a reformed drug addict who is a member of the same church and who stirs up a brouhaha by leading the team in prayer after a game.The main thing that irritated me about the narrative was the way it jumped around in time without much rhyme or reason. Just as I’m settling into a scene, I’m thrust two days into the past, or the action segues into the previous night. And the characters themselves seemed ineffectual and unable to take a strong stand on any of their supposedly closely held beliefs, or even on their attraction to each other. Which was probably the point, but I think this theme is getting a little worn out in Perrotta’s fiction. We’ve had the futility of modern suburban life before; let’s move on to some new material.
Which isn’t to say that I didn’t like the book. I actually liked it well enough while I was reading it, and I tore through it pretty fast. But when it was over, it was the literary equivalent of popcorn: not filling, not satisfying, no sticking power. I want to love Tom Perrotta as a writer, I really do, but his books just don’t awaken that level of passion in me, no matter how much I try.
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LibraryThing member yourotherleft
The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta is, first, the story of Ruth Ramsey, a sex-ed teacher with a practical view on her subject that leads her to teach in such a way that her students won't be afraid of their sexuality and will make decisions to practice safe sex when they do. A comment that
Tim Mason, Ruth's daughter's soccer coach, is a divorced and mostly recovered drug addict who credits Jesus and the Tabernacle with resurrecting his life from ruin. Tim and Ruth cross paths none-too-favorably when after a particularly grueling match and scary moment in which Tim's daughter might have been seriously injured, Tim, without much thought as to the consequences, gathers his young team into a circle to pray. Soon Ruth is pioneering an effort to get Tim kicked out of coaching, and Tim's pastor Dennis, is wielding him like a religious weapon to open the eyes and hearts of the young to the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
The Abstinence Teacher is not a character-driven novel, nor is it especially a plot-driven novel. It is an issue novel. For much of the book, the characters are not so much living, breathing people as microcosms for the many things that are wrong with both overzealous legalist evangelical Christian types and their polar opposite, the ever-liberal card-carrying ACLU member, "I have the right not to have you pray in front of my kids at a public sporting event" sorts.
Perotta does a good and surprisingly even-handed job of showing the problems with both extremes. First, you have the Christians trying to enforce their way of thinking on everyone without giving them a reason to choose their way. They naively believe that just because they choose only to teach abstinence and only in a climate of fear of the repercussions of unprotected sex, that teenagers will, indeed, abstain. Rather than preparing them for what may be their reality, they choose to frighten them about something that is natural, and in the right context, shouldn't be scary. Then you have Ruth, and her "type" of person who have nothing particularly against God or religion but object to it on priciple and who believe that young teens can be taught to make good decisions about sex but can't be taught or trusted to make their own decisions about religion and the belief systems they choose to follow. Perrotta exposes both sides' ignorance and hypocrisy.
This books is well done, but is one that is a struggle. Most readers, I would guess, have a pretty visceral reaction to this kind of religious versus secular debate which make it difficult to read without being enmeshed in one side or the other of the debate - or at least, believing that both sides are totally foolish in their inability to compromise and see things for what they are. At its heart, The Abstinence Teacher is frustrating to read not because it isn't a well-written book or a fast read, but because the people here act so much like people do, and people are often so frustrating.
As it turns out, though, despite their beliefs and religious affiliations, Perrotta does bring home the fact that his characters are, when separated from their more radical ways, after all, just people. People who are struggling and failing in face of life's challenges, people who are trying to maintain good relationships with their children even as they enter the difficult years of young adulthood, people who despite their going about it in just the wrong way are desperately trying to do what they think is best for their children - people who have more in common than they think.
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involves the words "some people enjoy it" sets off a chain of events wherein the very pervasive Tabernacle, a local evangelical Christian church, demands that the school curriculum be changed to an abstinence-only perspective. Ruth is forced, much against her belief system and better judgement, to adopt this curriculum and teach it to her students under the school principal and superintendent's watchful eyes.Tim Mason, Ruth's daughter's soccer coach, is a divorced and mostly recovered drug addict who credits Jesus and the Tabernacle with resurrecting his life from ruin. Tim and Ruth cross paths none-too-favorably when after a particularly grueling match and scary moment in which Tim's daughter might have been seriously injured, Tim, without much thought as to the consequences, gathers his young team into a circle to pray. Soon Ruth is pioneering an effort to get Tim kicked out of coaching, and Tim's pastor Dennis, is wielding him like a religious weapon to open the eyes and hearts of the young to the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
The Abstinence Teacher is not a character-driven novel, nor is it especially a plot-driven novel. It is an issue novel. For much of the book, the characters are not so much living, breathing people as microcosms for the many things that are wrong with both overzealous legalist evangelical Christian types and their polar opposite, the ever-liberal card-carrying ACLU member, "I have the right not to have you pray in front of my kids at a public sporting event" sorts.
Perotta does a good and surprisingly even-handed job of showing the problems with both extremes. First, you have the Christians trying to enforce their way of thinking on everyone without giving them a reason to choose their way. They naively believe that just because they choose only to teach abstinence and only in a climate of fear of the repercussions of unprotected sex, that teenagers will, indeed, abstain. Rather than preparing them for what may be their reality, they choose to frighten them about something that is natural, and in the right context, shouldn't be scary. Then you have Ruth, and her "type" of person who have nothing particularly against God or religion but object to it on priciple and who believe that young teens can be taught to make good decisions about sex but can't be taught or trusted to make their own decisions about religion and the belief systems they choose to follow. Perrotta exposes both sides' ignorance and hypocrisy.
This books is well done, but is one that is a struggle. Most readers, I would guess, have a pretty visceral reaction to this kind of religious versus secular debate which make it difficult to read without being enmeshed in one side or the other of the debate - or at least, believing that both sides are totally foolish in their inability to compromise and see things for what they are. At its heart, The Abstinence Teacher is frustrating to read not because it isn't a well-written book or a fast read, but because the people here act so much like people do, and people are often so frustrating.
As it turns out, though, despite their beliefs and religious affiliations, Perrotta does bring home the fact that his characters are, when separated from their more radical ways, after all, just people. People who are struggling and failing in face of life's challenges, people who are trying to maintain good relationships with their children even as they enter the difficult years of young adulthood, people who despite their going about it in just the wrong way are desperately trying to do what they think is best for their children - people who have more in common than they think.
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LibraryThing member mrstreme
Set in the “perfect” suburb, The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta attempts to explore what happens when two forces collide – those who believe in teaching abstinence in high school versus those who believe in teaching a more “in your face” curriculum.
Ruth Ramsey has been the high
Meanwhile, Tim Mason coached Ruth’s daughter’s soccer team. A recovering drug addict and alcoholic, Tim turned to Christ to help him recover from his addictions. He is far from perfect despite his best efforts, still longing for marijuana and beer, lusting for his ex-wife and struggling to maintain the best Christian values. Coincidentally, Tim belongs to the same church that raised issues against Ruth’s teaching methods.
Ruth and Tim, as if representing their own sides, come to head when Tim decided to lead his team to prayer after winning a game. Ruth is outraged and threatened to file a complaint against Tim for subjecting his soccer players – some of whom are not Christians – to prayer in a community league. Tim contended that it was appropriate to pray and that he did not force anyone to participate.
The premise of this book is outstanding – if only Perrotta had decided to attack the issue. He flings it out there so promisingly and then reels it in like he regretted even starting the conversation. His character development is there. He draws his characters in such a way that you feel sorry for them, root for them or just want to yell at them in disgust. But good characters can’t do it alone. They need a good plot to drive home the point. While we learn a lot about the characters’ sex lives, we really don’t learn or explore the issues about teaching sex to our children.
While I am disappointed in The Abstinence Teacher, I am not turned off by Tom Perrotta’s work. Reading other reviews have assured me that The Abstinence Teacher is not his best book. I hope my next selection will be more satisfying to me as a reader.
Ruth Ramsey has been the high
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school’s sex ed teacher for years, and she had always followed a more clinical, “real life” approach to her course. She believed in teaching students about birth control, masturbation, sexually transmitted diseases and the intricacies of intercourse. When one of her students complained about her class, Ruth was brought under scrutiny by the school district, led by an evangelical church who demanded that the county teach abstinence in the classroom. The church won the debate, forcing Ruth to change her pedagogy. Uncomfortable with this decision, Ruth struggled with following the rules and going with her gut. Meanwhile, Tim Mason coached Ruth’s daughter’s soccer team. A recovering drug addict and alcoholic, Tim turned to Christ to help him recover from his addictions. He is far from perfect despite his best efforts, still longing for marijuana and beer, lusting for his ex-wife and struggling to maintain the best Christian values. Coincidentally, Tim belongs to the same church that raised issues against Ruth’s teaching methods.
Ruth and Tim, as if representing their own sides, come to head when Tim decided to lead his team to prayer after winning a game. Ruth is outraged and threatened to file a complaint against Tim for subjecting his soccer players – some of whom are not Christians – to prayer in a community league. Tim contended that it was appropriate to pray and that he did not force anyone to participate.
The premise of this book is outstanding – if only Perrotta had decided to attack the issue. He flings it out there so promisingly and then reels it in like he regretted even starting the conversation. His character development is there. He draws his characters in such a way that you feel sorry for them, root for them or just want to yell at them in disgust. But good characters can’t do it alone. They need a good plot to drive home the point. While we learn a lot about the characters’ sex lives, we really don’t learn or explore the issues about teaching sex to our children.
While I am disappointed in The Abstinence Teacher, I am not turned off by Tom Perrotta’s work. Reading other reviews have assured me that The Abstinence Teacher is not his best book. I hope my next selection will be more satisfying to me as a reader.
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LibraryThing member ccayne
Tim, a born again former coke addict and drinker, collides with Ruth, a health teacher, when abstinence and prayer become flashpoints in their suburban town in New England. Both Tim and Ruth are dissatisfied with their lives and mystified by the way the directions their children have taken.
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Perrotta does a good job of exploring these characters in alternative narratives and infuses the tale with his characteristic humor and sharp observations. The ending, however, felt rushed unsatisfactory. Show Less
LibraryThing member msbaba
Despite its title, The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta, is not about adolescents having sex, or not having sex. It’s a subtly satirical and witty study of religious fanaticism—a fascinating journey into the American cultural war between the liberal left and fundamentalist Christian right.
Ruth is a liberal-left-leaning woman who teaches sex education at the local high school. She is a divorced mother of two adolescent girls. Ruth hasn’t had a serious relationship since her divorce, and achingly longs for another man in her life. Ruth is deeply suspicious of a new church that has been spreading its influence everywhere throughout the town. She fears this new evangelical Tabernacle of the Gospel Truth church as if it were something “out of a horror movie” like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”
Tim is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, who found Jesus only a few years earlier after hitting rock bottom. Tim belongs to The Tabernacle and credits its pastor with saving his life. He lost everything to his former addictions—his house, his job, his wife, and his two lovely girls. The Tabernacle is his lifeline, and no doubt, his latest addition. Tim’s mother is right on target when she accuses him of “using Jesus like a substitute for drugs.” Tim is a genuinely good human being, brutally handicapped by an overly tenacious addictive personality, one that has taken hold of his brain and rewired it, making his recovery an extremely difficult life-long struggle.
In an effort to spend more time with his older girl, Abby, Tim volunteers to coach the local girls soccer team. There he befriends Ruth’s daughter, Maggie, one of his star players. Maggie soon begins to idealize him and view him like a father figure.
Perrotta takes great care to flesh out each of his main characters. The story is told from each main character’s opposing point of view. The author presents each character and their worlds with such detailed precision that at times readers may feel that they are being given an anthropological lesson about some exotic land that he is exploring for their benefit.
The Tabernacle clashes with the town over two issues, and Ruth finds herself at the center of each.
First, the church objects to the liberal manner in which Ruth conducts her sex education classes. Their arguments hold sway over the school board, and Ruth soon finds that she is being forced, against her will and her own strong moral compass, to teach a new form of Christian sexual abstinence education. Consequently, she is a seething hotbed of pent-up anger over this issue.
The second clash occurs when coach Tim gathers his soccer players into an inadvertent prayer circle after a particularly successful game. Ruth sees her daughter Maggie being drawn into the prayer circle and yanks her away in a titanic fit of rage. Everyone looks on in horror as if she were out of her mind. Subsequently, Ruth tries to stir up legal action against Tim among other soccer parents, but eventually drops it after Tim comes over to her home and apologizes for his lapse in judgment. They get to know one another briefly. Ruth sees deep into this man’s troubled soul knows that his apology is genuine. They discover that they have much in common and keep their conversation going long after it should have ended. On a primal level—just below their own consciousness but not the readers—each recognizes that they are strongly attracted to one another.
In typical Perrotta style, the novel ends abruptly at the point where each main character makes a fateful decision that will propel them into a significant new stage of their lives. The author leaves it to the reader to decide what may happen next and how that may affect all the other loose ends in the story. If you like this type of ending, your brain will undoubtedly be on fire dreaming up countless possible story lines that could bring closure to this story. But if you’re the type of reader who likes the author to complete a story fully, you’ll be sorely disappointed.
Perrotta’s prose sparkles, and his main characters come alive. The book is filled with subtle wit and sly humor—many unveiling the author’s viewpoints on key issues. However, for the most part, Perrotta prefers to remain impartial and allow readers to draw their own conclusions.
Sales of this book in the American marketplace may suffer because interest in the American-evangelical-Christian-versus-liberal-left cultural wars has subsided. That was not the case when Perrotta began writing this novel—here the author may have missed the boat. But this issue is still of intense interest to the rest of world. Others around the globe are still frightened and mystified by Americans shift to the religious right and are looking for books that may help them understand these issues. The Abstinence Teacher may be exactly their ticket. Recent news stories reveal that Perrotta has already written the screenplay for this novel. In the right hands, with the right stars cast in leading roles, this story could be an international blockbuster movie.
Personally, what I found most interesting about this novel was the author’s careful and loving portrayal of Tim Mason—a decent human being severely handicapped by an addictive brain disorder. Perrotta made me truly care about this damaged soul. He was able to accomplish the same effect for me, with the character of Ronald, the child-abuser, in Little Children. Now almost three years since I read that book, and it is the tortured character of Ronald that still haunts me—this, while the two main characters have long since faded into oblivion. I suspect the same will happen with this novel: Tim Mason will remain in my memory for a long time to come.
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Perrotta brings these issues to life within the microcosm of a typical upper-middle-class Northeastern suburb—the fictional town of Stonewood Heights, “Sodom with good schools and a 24-hour supermarket.” The drama plays out between two seemingly polar opposite protagonists, both in their early forties: Ruth Ramsy and Tim Mason. Ruth is a liberal-left-leaning woman who teaches sex education at the local high school. She is a divorced mother of two adolescent girls. Ruth hasn’t had a serious relationship since her divorce, and achingly longs for another man in her life. Ruth is deeply suspicious of a new church that has been spreading its influence everywhere throughout the town. She fears this new evangelical Tabernacle of the Gospel Truth church as if it were something “out of a horror movie” like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”
Tim is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, who found Jesus only a few years earlier after hitting rock bottom. Tim belongs to The Tabernacle and credits its pastor with saving his life. He lost everything to his former addictions—his house, his job, his wife, and his two lovely girls. The Tabernacle is his lifeline, and no doubt, his latest addition. Tim’s mother is right on target when she accuses him of “using Jesus like a substitute for drugs.” Tim is a genuinely good human being, brutally handicapped by an overly tenacious addictive personality, one that has taken hold of his brain and rewired it, making his recovery an extremely difficult life-long struggle.
In an effort to spend more time with his older girl, Abby, Tim volunteers to coach the local girls soccer team. There he befriends Ruth’s daughter, Maggie, one of his star players. Maggie soon begins to idealize him and view him like a father figure.
Perrotta takes great care to flesh out each of his main characters. The story is told from each main character’s opposing point of view. The author presents each character and their worlds with such detailed precision that at times readers may feel that they are being given an anthropological lesson about some exotic land that he is exploring for their benefit.
The Tabernacle clashes with the town over two issues, and Ruth finds herself at the center of each.
First, the church objects to the liberal manner in which Ruth conducts her sex education classes. Their arguments hold sway over the school board, and Ruth soon finds that she is being forced, against her will and her own strong moral compass, to teach a new form of Christian sexual abstinence education. Consequently, she is a seething hotbed of pent-up anger over this issue.
The second clash occurs when coach Tim gathers his soccer players into an inadvertent prayer circle after a particularly successful game. Ruth sees her daughter Maggie being drawn into the prayer circle and yanks her away in a titanic fit of rage. Everyone looks on in horror as if she were out of her mind. Subsequently, Ruth tries to stir up legal action against Tim among other soccer parents, but eventually drops it after Tim comes over to her home and apologizes for his lapse in judgment. They get to know one another briefly. Ruth sees deep into this man’s troubled soul knows that his apology is genuine. They discover that they have much in common and keep their conversation going long after it should have ended. On a primal level—just below their own consciousness but not the readers—each recognizes that they are strongly attracted to one another.
In typical Perrotta style, the novel ends abruptly at the point where each main character makes a fateful decision that will propel them into a significant new stage of their lives. The author leaves it to the reader to decide what may happen next and how that may affect all the other loose ends in the story. If you like this type of ending, your brain will undoubtedly be on fire dreaming up countless possible story lines that could bring closure to this story. But if you’re the type of reader who likes the author to complete a story fully, you’ll be sorely disappointed.
Perrotta’s prose sparkles, and his main characters come alive. The book is filled with subtle wit and sly humor—many unveiling the author’s viewpoints on key issues. However, for the most part, Perrotta prefers to remain impartial and allow readers to draw their own conclusions.
Sales of this book in the American marketplace may suffer because interest in the American-evangelical-Christian-versus-liberal-left cultural wars has subsided. That was not the case when Perrotta began writing this novel—here the author may have missed the boat. But this issue is still of intense interest to the rest of world. Others around the globe are still frightened and mystified by Americans shift to the religious right and are looking for books that may help them understand these issues. The Abstinence Teacher may be exactly their ticket. Recent news stories reveal that Perrotta has already written the screenplay for this novel. In the right hands, with the right stars cast in leading roles, this story could be an international blockbuster movie.
Personally, what I found most interesting about this novel was the author’s careful and loving portrayal of Tim Mason—a decent human being severely handicapped by an addictive brain disorder. Perrotta made me truly care about this damaged soul. He was able to accomplish the same effect for me, with the character of Ronald, the child-abuser, in Little Children. Now almost three years since I read that book, and it is the tortured character of Ronald that still haunts me—this, while the two main characters have long since faded into oblivion. I suspect the same will happen with this novel: Tim Mason will remain in my memory for a long time to come.
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LibraryThing member aliciamalia
Perrota's Election was genius - the biting humor of the movie owes everything to Perrota's writing. Little Children was inspired, too. This book, unfortunately, is average. It's fine - but nothing more. The anger and wittiness of his previous books is missing. From another writer, this is a decent
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effort, but from Perrotta it's a major disappointment. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookstar
Perrotta has once again written about the inner thoughts and feelings of suburbia, this time in relation to religion. Unfortunately I found myself unable to route for either main character. As much as I tried I didn't like Tom, the once stoner, who marries a Christian woman in an attempt to fully
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like his born again Christian life, when in reality he's still in love with his old life and ex-wife. His desire for Ruth is a little unbelievable, and I find it equally hard to really like Ruth. Her situation as an sex ed teacher is interesting and a great contrast to what the small town has turned into, but still a little rough around the edges. I would have liked more on all accounts. Show Less
LibraryThing member bobbieharv
A fast read; ultimately unsatisfying and irritating. The characters were caricatures: the gay effeminate guy, the former drug/sex addict turned born again Christian, the sexy sex ed teacher. Too facile; not at all up to the standard of Little Children.
LibraryThing member agorr
Throughout the reading of this book, I kept returning to the cover so I could make sure I hadn't gotten the author confused with someone else. In this book, Perrotta seems to have lost the sense of humor that I enjoyed in Election and Joe College. Instead, this book felt preachy and condescending.
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As a Christian, I thought Perrotta's depiction of church life and pastors was very one dimensional. While hypocrisy most definitely is present in the church (as it is everywhere else), all the Christian characters in this novel were either weak or exceedingly over the top and unlikable. I realize the book was intended as a work of fiction and that exaggerations are at times necessary, but what I can only describe as the hammering of the liberal message came off as almost desperate. Perrotta clearly has had exposure to the church or did significant research for this book. Either way, I find it regrettable that the impression he gives the reader of the experience reflects a small part of the culture and completely leaves out the must fundamental element, grace. Show Less
LibraryThing member ameliajune
This book was terrible overall. I liked the setup and some of the characterizations going in, but it was like reading half of a book--there was little conflict that wasn't totally contrived and no resolution at all. The book felt unfinished, and about half way through I just gave up caring about
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the characters at all. Waste of time. Show Less
LibraryThing member volvomom
I really enjoyed this book, but felt the ending wrapped up too nicely. His first book was so edgy; I loved that! This book was a bit edgy up until the end. I was a bit disappointed. I still am looking forward to the next, as I feel Perrotta explores issues that many authors refuse to touch.
LibraryThing member novelcommentary
Enjoyable easy read where the character, Ruth Ramsey and Tim Mason represent opposites on the issue of appropriate sex education. They also are attracted to each other. Ruth is divorced with two daughters and enjoys her very frank, honest role as the school's conveyer of sexual information. This
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book became more meaningful as this same issue became a local headline in my daughter's high school. The novel does not take sides, yet it seem to hint that those who have sought out the Fundamentalist movement are looking for something to rescue them from their current lives. Perrotta does not wow me with his writing, but he does sketch very well the suburban, soccer playing life of the area. Show Less
LibraryThing member marient
This book is a story of several people searching for their relationship with God. Tim, Ruth, and others have conflicting desires and seek to reconcile them. A little confusing.
LibraryThing member mojomomma
This is the story of Ruth and Tim. Ruth teaches Sex Ed at the local suburban high school, Tim is the coach of her daughter's soccer team and a born-again Christian. The church he joined, after years of drugs, alcohol, rock-n-roll, turned his life around. Charismatic Pastor Dennis would like to turn
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EVERYONE's life around and he has made it his goal to save as many souls for Jesus as he can. His congregation pushes the school board to adopt an "abstinence only" sex ed curriculum, which really irritates Ruth. Why then does she feel attracted to Tim, the guy who represents so many things she feels repulsed by? I'm not really buying this romantic plot-line, but I really liked the struggle between the evangelicals and the non-evangelicals in this book.” Show Less
LibraryThing member LivelyLady
I could not tell by this fragmented story which what the author was trying to say. Is he a right wing conservative or was he making fun of them? I have no idea. And, except for Sidney Sheldon, I have never been fond of men writing as the first person woman. In THE ABSTINENCE TEACHER, the first
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person changes, depending on who is talking. Interesting, but still seemed like a rough draft. Not polished or finished. The ending was the obvious and most comfortable for the author. Show Less
LibraryThing member usquepaugmike
One hundred pages in, the romantic scenario seemed predictable and the characters a bit cardboard. By two hundred pages in, I began caring about Tim's struggle with sobriety and his incoherent doubts about his church. By the end, I cared for the characters and was rooting for Ruth and Tim to fall
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into bed. All in all, I enjoyed the book and bet I'd enjoy having the author and his family over for dinner. But I never got that rush you get when an author shows you something you didn't already know. Show Less
LibraryThing member getupkid10
a good, not great story of a Ruth, a sex education teacher who causes a stirs when she tells the students that some people enjoy masturbating. This causes the evangelical masses to come out against her, and introduces the readers to Ruth's daughter's born again Christian soccer coach, Tim. An
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interesting relation occurs as Ruth struggles with her job and love life and Tim battles to stay clean and focused on God. Show Less
LibraryThing member cpferree
I had been looking forward to reading this book, given all the press it got: interviews with Perotta on NPR and BBC, a profile article in the NY Times. And, the premise of the story certainly holds the promise of interesting conflict. Ruth, a divorced, suburban sex-ed teacher is being pressured
The overwhelming feeling I had when reading this book was that I was hearing a writer at work. Or, rather, an imaginer at work. Ruth and Tim felt like what someone would imagine representatives of these two opposing sides would be like, rather than fully formed people. It seems obvious from their first meeting that they will eventually come together (probably romantically) and the plot seems manipulated to make this happen, even in spite of what little character has been established. (In one scene, Tim shows up at Ruth's door after having lied to her about her daughter, she slaps him across the face, and then with her next motion invites him into her house and serves him coffee.) Half-way through I started to wonder if Perotta was playing with charachicture or archetype to some end. If he was, I hadn't figured it out by the last page, and was not moved enough by the characters to parse through it again.
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both at work and through her daughter's soccer team by an evangelical church that is taking root in the town. They challenge her curriculum at the school, and the coach of her daughter's team, Tim, is a recovering addict and prominent member of this church. After a particularly emotional victory, Tim leads his team of middle school girls, including Ruth's daughter, in prayer. This causes the worlds of Ruth and Tim to intersect, and causes a crisis of faith, so to speak, in each character. With a plot like this, you can either end up with a book that challenges conventional (even polemic) perceptions of faith, a book that takes the mundane aspects of suburban living and twists them, blows them up until they represent bigger, more universal truths about how we live and choices we make, a story that compels us to identify with people who are different than we are and, in the process, leaves us different than when we were before we started. Or, you can end up with a TV movie of the week. Sadly, this book is much closer to the latter.The overwhelming feeling I had when reading this book was that I was hearing a writer at work. Or, rather, an imaginer at work. Ruth and Tim felt like what someone would imagine representatives of these two opposing sides would be like, rather than fully formed people. It seems obvious from their first meeting that they will eventually come together (probably romantically) and the plot seems manipulated to make this happen, even in spite of what little character has been established. (In one scene, Tim shows up at Ruth's door after having lied to her about her daughter, she slaps him across the face, and then with her next motion invites him into her house and serves him coffee.) Half-way through I started to wonder if Perotta was playing with charachicture or archetype to some end. If he was, I hadn't figured it out by the last page, and was not moved enough by the characters to parse through it again.
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LibraryThing member mpicker0
Decent, though I thought Little Children was better. A little too much product placement (it's the suburbs, 2007ish, we get it already), and a very abrupt and unsatisfying ending.
LibraryThing member lauriemk
I really loved this book. I thought this was so well-written, with amazing characters. I was prepared to not like it as I really didn't like the movie "Little Children", based on another of Perrotta's books. But I found The Abstinence Teacher to be so real and well-done. Perrotta took a bunch of
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characters who could have so easily been cliches, and made them real, three dimensional people. I recommend this one if you like books that are basically character studies where not a lot else goes on. Show Less
LibraryThing member DeeHenderson
Needed a couple more chapters to complete story!
LibraryThing member carmarie
I really enjoy Tom Perrotta's writing. He writes with such ease. I read this 300 page book in one day, and it seemed like a breeze. I'm not sure if I liked the character of Tim. Even though the book seemed to be more focused on him than the female character, which I liked, but he still seemed a
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little unfinished. I would have loved a more complete ending, but it's not all about me :) Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Paterson Fiction Prize (Winner — 2008)
The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Fiction & Poetry — 2007)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2007-10-16
Physical description
1 p.
ISBN
0312358334 / 9780312358334
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Run by Ann Patchett