Religion Vs Sex Ed (The Abstinence Teacher - Tom Perrotta)

Member Name: wastingtime

Product:	The Abstinence Teacher - Tom Perrotta
Date:	20/03/09 (153 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fair read

Disadvantages: Not inspiring

I was pointed in the direction of this book by 'Larachristina' who you will notice has also reviewed it (the witch), I had never heard of Tom Perrotta but was told it was a good read, as ever I read the back cover to see what it was about, and deciding it looked racey enough to satisfy my reading needs for a few nights I embarked on the journey.

The story is about a sex education teacher called Ruth Ramsey in a small American town called Stonewood Heights, she has been teaching at the local high school for 15 years and obviously enjoys her job. She believes she is doing a public service to try and stop teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease while not trying to teach that sex is BAD. However in her sleepy little town recently has come the marching force of the local Church sweeping up the residents like a tidal wave.

Ruth, somewhat naively doesn't believe that this local trend to convert to Christianity and save ones soul would affect her teachings in the classroom and goes on teaching in her normal way, however in one of her classes the topic of oral sex comes up and she makes the off the cuff remark of:-

'some people enjoy it'

well, that is enough for the Christian right to get well and truly involved, and Ruth finds herself in hot water.

The book is put across in first person, and changes between chapters on who it concentrates it attention, Ruth is one of the leads and the second is a gentleman named Tim Mason. Tim has a music backround, but somehow along the way his music backround turned into a drugs backround and he lost his way in life, his wife has left him and he struggles at work, the only way he feels that he can fill this massive empty void in his life is with the teachings of the Church.

Tim has had his faith put to the test many times but has managed to stay on the right path with the support of the very active local minister, Tim even coaches the girls local soccer team, however this is where things are about to go wrong and our two characters collide.

Ruth has two daughters and on turning up to the weekends soccer game she meets some of the other parents and coaches, and also Tim Mason, Ruth has become infamous around the local area for her teachings in school but goes to see her daughter play, after a good game it is time to leave but when she looks for her daughter she finds that Tim Mason has formed a circle of prayer with the young girls and is now leading a communal prayer. Ruth goes ballistic and being a firm atheist herself causes quite a scene.

The rest of the book follows each characters person lives and struggles as well as their interaction together, I won't give away any more, but I think you can get a fair gist of the plot line from that. The book is really a satirical view of American Evangelical religion in which their power completely controls whole towns and Cities, and I imagine that this still happens to this day.

New York Times 'Perrotta is like an American Nick Hornby: companionable and humane, lighthearted and surprisingly touching.'

I enjoyed the book, although not as much as I had hoped, I understand the New York Times comparing Perrotta to Hornby, although I would say that Hornbys better works easily outshine this. I felt lucky that even though we still have a very large religious belief in this country it cannot sweep into whole towns and completely disrupt the way in which we live our lives, I say this from my perspective but don't know if anyone has had other experiences?

I believe that everyone at some time feels like there is something missing, and this seems particularly true in Stonewood Heights where local residents search for something greater than themselves to guide them on the right path. It is as much a book about personal struggle as it is about power.

I am not a religious man myself, and so therefore enjoyed some of the roles put forward by the author, at no time does Perrotta try and define the actions of the Church as a whole, it explains the reasons behind a particular persons actions, but never by the Church themselves. The Church on a whole is put up for ridicule in the way they conduct themselves highlighting just how extreme and far fetched some of the things they do can be and how they affect the common man.

I have not come away laughing at the Church though, and I never had a moment where I sat in bed chuckling away to myself at the irony which some of the reviews on various websites have stated. I enjoyed it but not enough to tell you to go out and read it as an essential. I have given it 3 stars out of five because I think 4/10 is unfair while 6/10 may be about right.

The facts

You can buy this book new from Amazon for £4.39
There readers have given it 4/5 from five reviews.
At paperback it is 400pages


ISBN-10: 0007261012
ISBN-13: 978-0007261017

Summary: Don't go out of your way