Nothing like the suburbs with their need to conform and the crushing of those who refuse to. Throw in a heaping pile of divorce and some all or nothing, my way or the highway preacher types and followers just to make the box a little more constricting. Someone strike up the Malven Reynolds song from "Weeds."
The Abstinence Teacher tells the story of Ruth Ramsey, a high school sex-ed teacher in the town of Stonewood Heights and Tim Mason, a born again recovering addict who coaches her daughter's soccer team, with the chapters alternating perspective between the 2 of them.
After responding honestly (that'll teacher her) to a somewhat more explicit question in her class, Ruth and her class come under the scrutiny of the school board and the growing local Christian movement, requiring Ruth to change the content of her class to a more abstinence based curriculum. She does so begrudgingly, but continues to run up against the woman running the program, to the point where she refuses to take seriously the re-education seminar she is made to attend when she strays from the approved literature. During all of this, she finally attends one of her daughter's soccer games (they fall under the purview of her ex while she sleeps in on the weekends). At the end of the game Coach Mason ends up gathering the team for a prayer circle, which Ruth protests loudly.
Coach Mason is a former local musician, now mortgage broker who is also a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. He is a member of the local born church, with whose assistance he has overcome his addictions and remarried. After the protest against his post-game prayer he becomes a very reluctant figure in his priest's drive to preach to the masses (who was all for the continuation of the prayer).
After many occurrences, some separate and some related, Ruth and Coach Mason find themselves to be kindred spirits in their silent, loosing battle against the expectations of others in their community. Tim begins to question his place in the church and whether he believes any of it or if he even loves his devoted wife and Ruth, whether she any longer has nay say in what happens to her professionally - how she can continue teaching her subject - or personally - her daughters being drawn to church, her gay friends possibly leaving town to get married. In the end, they don't fight it so much as say go on without us (the coach at least does).
Like I think all Perrotta's books, The Abstinence Teacher focuses on the inabality of certain people to exist with what tehy beleive are the day-to-day expectaions of others in their subburbon lives. One has to believe there are more peopel in the town with these issues, but a book focusing on everyone would probably be to long to read.
Not sure if any of the above made sense, this was written in pieces throughout the day.
Book can be found here
http://www.amazon.com/Abstinence-Teacher-Reading-Group-Gold/dp/0312363540/ref=sr_oe_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239505582&sr=1-1
8 down, 92 to go. Finished 3/20/2009
This post was written listening to the latest SModcast
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