tom perotta is one of my absolute favorite authors. after having read election and little children, it was love. but, i can't say the same for this particular read- perotta's latest. even with his typical writting stye flowing.... it just didn't cut it. which, was a HUGE disappointment as i had EXTREMELY high expectations.
first off- the book is distractingly political. it focuses entirely on the uber christian/church vs. state controversy, etc. though i agreed completely with ruth, one of the main characters, i still found it to be completely overwhelming and tiresome.
ruth, a high school heath teacher, in a hyper conservative and overly bible-thumping town, is forced to teach an "abstinence only" curriculum. as predicted, she gets herself into an extreme amount of trouble for telling her students that oral sex isn't all bad and what she's having to teach them isn't the most accurate source of information regarding birth control. she directs her students to planned parenthood... shit hits the fan... and i thought this was going to be the main plot of the story.
BUT- i was wrong. a second main character is introducted. tim, the recovering addict/born again christian, is ruth's daughter's soccer coach. he digs his own grave by leading his youth soccer team (sponsered by the community, none the less) in a prayer circle after a big win. needless to say, ruth (near athiest) is outraged, and leads the charge against coach tim.
i'm going to leave the plot there. naturally, it's much more involved than that, but i don't want to get hung up on the details. i felt the book was rushed, and was surprised at the lack of character developement. all of the stock characters fell tooth and nail into their intended stereotypes and it was all too predictable for my taste. and- as a fan of perrota, this was entirely unpredicted.
i was expecting so much more... and am hoping that my next perotta read, joe college, redeems my loyality. BUT- hefore that happens, it's on to another read from my "2009 busy bookworm challenge" list, memoirs of a geisha. i have heard such wonderfully amazing things about this book, that my expectations are through the roof. this will be either the books greatest strengh or it's weakest flaw.
either way, happy reading.
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