January 2009: Tom Perrotta: The Abstinence Teacher

[beer good]

Here's an interview with Perrotta which pretty much says what the discussion in this thread has; that he sets out to understand both sides of the story, that what some of us here have seen as flat storytelling is in fact intentional ("the only message [writers like Roth and Wallace] would be conveying to someone like my dad was that he wasn't smart enough to understand a single word"), his criteria for a good book ("What I'd really love is to be like Graham Greene, and get to 75 and see a whole shelf full of consistently good books, all remarkably similar in length"), and his plans for the future (apparently he's working on a movie script for The Abstinence Teacher together with the people behind Little Miss Sunshine).

There's also a quote from Esquire Magazine that seems to sum up my impression of his writing pretty well:

[Perrotta] writes books for people who don't much like books - satires for nice people, **** books for prudes. The problem with this approach is that it's not really satire at all. It's situational comedy.

But still, interesting interview.

 

[dschill]

Hmm it seems im far to late to take part in discussion..I think ill wait for the next book!

 

[Libra]

Here's an interview with Perrotta which pretty much says what the discussion in this thread has; that he sets out to understand both sides of the story, that what some of us here have seen as flat storytelling is in fact intentional ("the only message [writers like Roth and Wallace] would be conveying to someone like my dad was that he wasn't smart enough to understand a single word"), his criteria for a good book ("What I'd really love is to be like Graham Greene, and get to 75 and see a whole shelf full of consistently good books, all remarkably similar in length"), and his plans for the future (apparently he's working on a movie script for The Abstinence Teacher together with the people behind Little Miss Sunshine).

There's also a quote from Esquire Magazine that seems to sum up my impression of his writing pretty well: But still, interesting interview.

Yes,interesting interview.If someone else had taken this subject with more interest and with more seriousness,it would have been a darn good book to discuss in my opinion.

The Abstinence Teacher is a case in point. It was the American culture wars of the religious right that sparked the book. "Here we had one of the most unpopular presidents in living memory, who had taken us into a disastrous war, getting re-elected largely because the Christian right managed to create hysteria about the non-issue of gay weddings in Ohio," Perrotta says. "I found myself angry and confused. It was embarrassing for me to have to admit as a novelist that I didn't really understand what made half of America tick."

It's hard to believe that alot of people voted for him because of this subject,and not looking at the whole Bush and what he was ALL about.

But what makes the novel work are the characters. There's Ruth, the liberal sex education teacher who gets on the wrong side of the puritanical school governors for telling her pupils about oral sex; and there's born-again Tim, the ex-stoner, ex-rock'n'roller and football coach. Perrotta somehow manages to avoid playing them for all-out comic effect to come up with a layered story that offers no easy answers. "I had no desire to use the book to right wrongs," he says. "What I tried to do was get into the mindset of the religious underclass, rather than just observe them from the outside, and I had to let go of my preconceptions. I had originally thought that Ruth would be able somehow to undermine the system from within, but as I started writing I realised she would never be allowed to get that far. The religious right is just too powerful to let that happen."

How true.

Thanks for the article beergood.

 

[oskylad]

"What I tried to do was get into the mindset of the religious underclass, rather than just observe them from the outside, and I had to let go of my preconceptions. I had originally thought that Ruth would be able somehow to undermine the system from within, but as I started writing I realised she would never be allowed to get that far. The religious right is just too powerful to let that happen."

IMO he totally failed to understand, let alone get into the mindset of, the "religious underclass". At best it was caricature.

 

[oskylad]

l'm also troubled by his use of the phrase "religious underclass". That term in itself suggests he hasn't let go of his preconceptions.

The term "underclass" is usually used as a synonym for those who are poor or disadvantaged. It can also be used for those who are cut off from mainstream American life for reasons other than poverty.

I would guess he intends to characterize the religious right as being of the second type - because of their religious beliefs they are not part of "mainstream America". Yet the religious right generally are centered in traditional American values such as productive work and strong family-involvement. They typically contribute a higher percentage of their incomes to those in need than other Americans (and not just through their churches). They are as much "mainstream America" as the religious left or the non-religious. To call them a "religious underclass" is just a sneer.

 

[Libra]

l'm also troubled by his use of the phrase "religious underclass". That term in itself suggests he hasn't let go of his preconceptions.

The term "underclass" is usually used as a synonym for those who are poor or disadvantaged. It can also be used for those who are cut off from mainstream American life for reasons other than poverty.

I would guess he intends to characterize the religious right as being of the second type - because of their religious beliefs they are not part of "mainstream America". Yet the religious right generally are centered in traditional American values such as productive work and strong family-involvement. They typically contribute a higher percentage of their incomes to those in need than other Americans (and not just through their churches). They are as much "mainstream America" as the religious left or the non-religious. To call them a "religious underclass" is just a sneer.

A quote from a previous post sums it up for me.As time goes by I realize this and it angers me even more.

[Perrotta] writes books for people who don't much like books - satires for nice people, **** books for prudes.