“The Abstinence Teacher” by Tom Perrotta

The Abstinence Teacher: A Novel

By Tom Perrotta
2007
368 pages / 10 hours and 23 minutes
Fiction

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Tom Perrotta’s last book was so foul and awful that I won't even bother to mention its name in this review. It is a shame, because over the last 15 years he has written several excellent novels, including Little Children (2004), The Abstinence Teacher (2007), and The Leftovers (2011). The last of these I believe was made into some sort of television miniseries. It is a clever take on the rapture – after some people have disappeared, how do the leftovers cope?

But I will take The Abstinence Teacher as the best of the trio. I’d better get this out of the way early: there’s quite a bit of sex taking place in the book plus a good bit of talk about sex. In fact, the complications of modern American sex is a major theme in Perrotta’s work. If such material offends you, you had best stay away from all of his books.

He is one of the more astute observers of modern American mores and the tensions that arise when neighbors’ ideas of right and wrong come into conflict. I think his books have the ring of authenticity. Though he may not be in the pantheon of the greatest American authors, he is certainly in that next tier of excellent contemporary writers.

The setup for this book is irresistible. Ruth teaches human sexuality in the local high school. She believes, in her words, that “pleasure is good, shame is bad, and knowledge is power.” Tim is a born-again Christian and true believer who was rescued from his addiction and life of sin by good old-fashioned evangelical Christianity. He is a true believer. He belongs to a powerful evangelical mega-church that doesn't care much for Ruth's approach to teaching sexuality, and they start a very public crusade against her. She doesn't care much for their approach either. Here comes the culture war! What’s not to love here?

But Perotta is not out to score easy points with stereotypes, although there are some pretty stereotypical characters in the book. He's always interested in the personal human dilemma and not just the broader cultural warfare. So of course Tim and Ruth, through some clever book plotting, are thrown together in a way that requires they actually talk to one another so that the easy stereotype that each has of the other may not hold up so well.

One of the things I admire about this book is the author's caginess in giving lots of space to his characters on both sides of the religious divide. The book is quite honest in its depiction of the tense place inhabited by American evangelicalism and its critics. After 12 years, the book seems to me as timely as when it was written. In fact, the tensions have gotten more extreme than they were in 2007. I freely admit that this book isn't for everyone. I repeat the warning about the frank sexuality. But as an exploration of religion that divides as often as it unites us in our American cities, this is one of the better books.