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The Abstinence Teacher is a novel by American author Tom Perrotta. It tells the story of Ruth Ramsey, a divorced sexual education teacher who lives in.
Table of contents

They happen to play for a soccer team coached by a desparately hot woman who happens to be a religious fanatic as yet unknown to me. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm pissed just thinking about it, and I don't care how hot this coach is, I'm certainly not getting over my righteous indignation about her interference with MY CHILD just because she has a great butt.

So naturally, when I read that Ruth is having feelings for Tim, and vice versa, well, I'm just not buying what Perrotta's selling. I can see Tim being interested, but reciprocation of that interest doesn't fit the Ruth character that Perrotta had already introduced me to, and that lingering attraction messed up a lot of the story's credibility.

It's hard to enjoy a book fully when there's such a major disconnect, and I couldn't help but close this book with a sense of dissatisfaction at how Perrotta chose to lead his main characters. Apr 27, Ceilidh rated it it was ok. The abstinence movement and the Christian right are two of my favourite topics in relation to American politics, one of my strange hobbies.

Things happen and there are some interesting set-ups for what promise to be bigger and more explosive events but they seldom come to fruition.

Review: The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta | Books | The Guardian

There is no real story to speak of, events just ramble along and meander back and forth as the point-of-view switches from divorced mother and health teacher Ruth to born again Christian with a crisis Tim. These two characters are supposed to be engaged in a battle of wits and morals, one being the atheist with a grudge against the radically increasing Christian presence in her school, the other the former drug addicted rock-star who found solace in Christ and wants to be a good person through his teachings.

Any potential for wit and truly successful satire is gone and the rest just falls flat. It was incredibly mediocre, but not without some merit, and failed to truly get a sense of the contradictions and difficulties of the abstinence movement and the growing presence of the Christian right in public services in America.

Perrotta seems more concerned with painting a black and white picture with very broad strokes when what was really needed was a much finer brush and a wider palate of colours. Feb 02, Morgue Anne rated it it was amazing.


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They deserve to know these things because they are my parents. They love me, and want me to be safe, happy, and not in a situation I will regret later.

Book Details

This is a book about sex. It's one of the better books on the "Abstinence only" education I have read, because it doesn't display everything in black and white. Each side isn't pointing to finger to the other and screaming "They're trying to ruin our children! Everyone's just scared.

Sex-Ed Teacher Meets an Evangelical? Brace for a Culture War

The teachers are scared because they aren't allowed to give the students the information they need to be safe, and the parents are scared because they don't want their children to need this information in the first place. The main characters of this story do a fantastic job of portraying this to the reader, but Perrotta also makes a point of showing the negative effects of the "Virginity Consultant" and her "Safe Choices" program for teenagers. Abstinence only education is, as my social psychologist boyfriend would put it, "Empirically verified as ineffective". I try not to be forceful with my opinions, but this is something I feel strongly enough about to share.

I was fortunate enough to have parents and teachers who gave me the information I needed, and trusted me to be smart about making my own choices. My mother made sure I was covered for birth control on our insurance plan, My teacher told me in confidence that Lover's Package had the cheapest condoms and the employees were the most knowledgable about which brand was more effective , and the testing once every three months, that was my idea.

Because, believe it or not, an 18 year old can make responsible choices about sex. Oct 29, Abigail Hillinger rated it liked it Shelves: fiction. I'm rather Tom Perrotta-obsessed. I've been known to babble on about him I was really excited for this book to come out. I loved the concept of Ruth, a Human Sexuality teacher, being called into question for something innocent, a casual remark, and how the hyper-Christian population attacked her like she had horns and had the middle name Lucifer.

And the connection between Tim, her daughter's born-again soccer coach, and Ruth are great. The scene where Ruth Well. The scene where Ruth realizes that Tim is praying on after a particularly invigorating game is so well-done. And there's a but.

The Abstinence Documentary

It's well-written, because, of course, it's Tom Perrotta and he's wonderful. However, this book was so lackluster compared to his other great books Little Children! The Wishbones! And it was really disappointing. Maybe I should blame myself. After reading Little Children two years ago, I was already impatient for his newest book to come out. Every day circumstances and satires are, after all, what Tom Perrotta does best.

But this book falls flat in several ways. Character development, for example. Ruth was two-dimensional, at best. Sure, she had her moments of fire and anger concerning her curriculum and maybe her daughters and of course, Tim's choice to pray after games , but then what?


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There was no depth to her, so different from the female protagonist Sarah in Little Children. And Tim Which, of course, is Tim. The soccer scenes were long and drawn out. I skimmed through them. Maybe it's because I just don't really care about sports and don't really care to READ about sports, but I just turned my brain off during those parts.

There were so many things I wanted to see expanded, mostly that I wanted more Ruth. I wanted more Ruth and her daughters. More about her divorce, beyond the fact that she thought her marriage to Frank was always a mistake.

I really liked her; it was sad to not see more of her. And what about JoAnn? GOD, would I have loved to see her got some form of comeuppance! The ending suited me just fine. I've read reviews so far where people thought it was blah, not good, and I found the opposite. I enjoyed it a lot.

I still really liked the book, despite my observations. It's still Tom Perrotta, and it's still good writing. And I still laughed out loud several times. And I will still probably re-read this book a few times, because that's how I roll. Aug 17, Sarah rated it it was amazing. I love Tom Perrotta, and this book was no exception.

He writes in such a way that he makes it look easy, when it is anything but.

The Abstinence Teacher

And I love how much depth he finds in characters that other writers might see as simply stereotypes. While not liking the book is one thing, hating it is another. I hated this book! I'm actually angry about it and it has been nearly a week since I pushed myself through it in two days.