Unplanned Book Review
Have any of you ever read The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta? I had never heard of it until I was at the library one day glancing at the New Release shelf and there it was, staring at me. Some of you may know the work I have done against abstinence-only education programs, so I was naturally intrigued by the title. (Side note - I'm happy to discuss the topic at any time if any of you are interested). The book tells the story of two main characters living in suburbia america - one is a sex ed teacher who thinks Christianity is pointless and the other is a born-again Christian, who has been saved from his drug and alcohol addictions by his belief in Christ. This born-again Christian is a member of a large fundamentalist Christian church, which is pushing abstinence education, prayer in schools and public places, etc. I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, Perrotta explores the struggle between the two viewpoints quite well, using quite a bit of humor and sarcasm. On the other hand, the book is very stereotypical. After reading some of the reviews of the book on Amazon, I'm beginning to think the stereotypes are his way of using satire to express the ridiculousness of both extremes and the need to meet in the middle; however, I didn't think that satire was extremely clear throughout the book.
If you have read it, I'd be interested in your thoughts.
If you have read it, I'd be interested in your thoughts.