"Perrotta is that rare combination: a satirist with heart....Those who haven't curled up on the couch with this writer's books are missing a very great pleasure."--"Seattle"" Times"
Stonewood Heights is the perfect place to raise children: it's got good schools, solid values and a healthy real estate market. Parents in the town are involved in their children's lives, and often in other children's lives, too--coaching sports, driving carpool, focusing on enriching experiences. Ruth Ramsey is the high school human sexuality teacher whose openness is not appreciated by all her students--or their parents. Her daughter's soccer coach is Tim Mason, a former stoner and rocker whose response to hitting rock bottom was to reach out and be saved. Tim's introduction of Christianity on the playing field horrifies Ruth, while his evangelical church sees a useful target in the loose-lipped sex ed teacher. But when these two adversaries in a small-town culture war actually talk to each other, a surprising friendship begins to develop.
"Nobody renders the world of soccer moms and sprinklers and SUVs like Perrotta. He's the Steinbeck of suburbia."--"Time"
"Tom Perrotta is a truth-telling, unshowy chronicler of modern-day America."--"The New" "York Times Book Review" (in a front-page review)
"The Abstinence Teacher" illuminates the powerful emotions that run beneath the placid surface of modern American family life, and explores the complicated spiritual and sexual lives of ordinary people. It is elegantly and simply written, characterized by the distinctive mix of satire and compassion that has become Perrotta's trademark. Tom Perrotta is the author of five previous works of fiction: "Bad Haircut," "The" "Wishbones," "Election," and the "New York Times" bestsellers "Joe"" ""College" and" Little Children." He lives outside of Boston, Massachusetts. A "New York Times" Notable Book of the Year Stonewood Heights is the perfect place to raise kids. It's got the proverbial good schools, solid values and a healthy real estate market. It's the kind of place where parents are involved in their children's lives, where no opportunity for enrichment goes unexplored.
Ruth Ramsey is the human sexuality teacher at the local high school. She believes that "pleasure is good, shame is bad, and knowledge is power." Ruth's younger daughter's soccer coach is Tim Mason, a former stoner and rocker whose response to hitting rock bottom was to reach out and be saved. Tim belongs to The Tabernacle, an evangelical Christian church that doesn't approve of Ruth's style of teaching. And Ruth in turn doesn't applaud The Tabernacle's mission to take its message outside its doors. Adversaries in a small-town culture war, Ruth and Tim instinctively mistrust each other. But when a controversy on the soccer field pushes the two of them to actually talk to each other, they are forced to take each other at something other than face value.
"The Abstinence Teacher" exposes the powerful emotions that run beneath the surface of modern American family life and explores the complex spiritual and sexual lives of ordinary people. Elegantly written, it is characterized by the distinctive mix of satire and compassion that have animated Perrotta's previous novels. "The Abstinence Teacher" is also available on CD as an unabridged audio book. Please email academic@macmillan.com for more information. "As formulaic as this plot might sound, Mr. Perrotta uses it not to construct a conventional screwball romance but to create a sad-funny-touching story that looks at the frustrations and perils of life in suburbia through darkly tinted, not rose-colored glasses."--Michiko Kakutani, "The New York Times" "As formulaic as this plot might sound, Mr. Perrotta uses it not to construct a conventional screwball romance but to create a sad-funny-touching story that looks at the frustrations and perils of life in suburbia through darkly tinted, not rose-colored glasses."--Michiko Kakutani, "The New York Times
""Tom Perrotta is a truth-telling, unshowy chronicler of modern-day America . . . Perrotta's unmassaged realism runs through all of his writing and] he gives space and speeches to proselytizers and scoffers alike, letting readers form their own conclusions."--Liesl Schillinger, "The New York Times Book Review
""With abstinence programs and disputes over what can be taught in schools regularly making the front page, "The Abstinence Teacher" hits on prominent social fault lines. This has become something of a hallmark for Mr. Perrotta, who has developed a knack for combining hot-button cultural themes with flawed and complicated characters . . . While his stories bear the sheen of satire, they are actually sharp though compassionate investigations of human relationships. They can also be very funny."--Motoka Rich, "The New York Times
""Abstinence is really a gateway for Mr. Perrotta to tell a much bigger and more complex story about religious identity in America . . . A] deeply moving story of a man and a woman who see each other on opposite sides of a religious divide."--"The Wall Street Journal
"""The Abstinence Teacher" is certainly Perrotta's most sensitive novel . . . tender, witty, and wise."--"The Washington Post Book World
""Perrotta's balance of humor and pathos has no equal; he's naughty and nice . . . he brings this world to life with a few strokes. He never condescends to modern suburbia--instead he mucks around its corners, opens closets, and reveals oddball secrets."--"Los Angeles Times
""Eloquently written, Perrotta hits a chord by giving readers a riveting look at the angst and sexual tension that can polarize people as they struggle to weigh their personal wants with societal standards . . . Perrotta weaves a masterful satire that is sure to make readers stop and think."--"Chicago Sun-Times
""Undeniable power . . . Perrotta--like satirists since ancient Rome--attacks excess, hypocrisy, and intolerance
