The Abstinence Teacher: A Novel Audiobook

" Had a hard time getting into this book at first, but it grew on me. Reading it reminded me of my childhood, growing up Catholic and going to parochial school in a liberal town. Good read although not Perrotta's best work. "

" Perrota writes about the dark underside of suburbia, and adult life. The characters in The Abstinence Teacher find themselves on opposite sides of religious issues in a small town, with an enjoyable romantic tension between them. Abstinence, they find, is a kind of teacher, and so is life. Perrota's books are funny, true, and captivating. "

" Book on CD. I could listen to Campbell Scott all day. The book was silly...lonely liberal, agnostic divorcee sex ed teacher dukes it out (and finds love?) with married, recovering substance abuser, born again (but rethinking this) soccer coach. "

" I've read other Tom Perrotta books and always find them interesting and intelligent. A good, quick read. They're thought provoking and cover controversial issues without necessarily forcing a point of view on the reader, though you can probably guess what his views are... "

" I enjoyed the first part of the book a great deal but when the focus shifted to born-again Tim the story soon seemed to lose momentum. This might be subjective: I am not prepared to be as fair-minded towards born-again "Christians" as the author was (very even handed) and therefore didn't much care to read about them. But I distinctly got the impression that the author himself had lost interest. Whichever of the two it was, this seemed really promising but fizzled out, which was a shame. "

" Fun read. A little predictable. Would probably give it 3 1/2 if I could. "

" An interesting premise of a religious man and divorced woman who meet under confrontational circumstances, but always felt the characters were cardboard cut-outs and the whole issue of differing opinions was never properly paid off. I wouldn't include it in your nightstand pile of "to-reads." "

" This would have gotten a higher rating from me, but for the ending. What's up with not writing an actual ending to a book?!! "

" The story is much more layered and complex and less predictable than I had expected. Perotta does a fabulous job creating realistically complicated characters. "

" The reviews I read about the book before buying it were completely misleading. The book was extremely disappointing. "

" bookclub book. The book starts out great about a health teacher, and then out of nowhere it takes a turn and the rest of the book is about a man who gave his life to God while in jail, and blah, blah, blah...not what the title or the back cover indicated. And onto the next... "

" Great book. Great writer. "

" It seemed pretty good while reading it, but by the time I got to the end I was rolling my eyes and didn't seem to care "

" This definitely isn't my favorite Tom Perrotta book, but I still liked it. It was kind of a slow read because I didn't constantly want to pick it up (I think the story is just not that exciting) but when I did I really enjoyed the writing. "

" I do like stories about zealots, and thankfully he found his way in the end. No praying at soccer or learning about abstinence for me. "

" Not bad. Some pretty funny parts. Better than Little Children. "

" An interesting fiction that explores questions of religion, morality and social mores. "

" I had higher hopes for an ending. "

" Loved this book. Perrotta has a wonderful way of investing all of his characters with such a rich, nuanced backstory. "

" This was even better the second time! "

" The plot is very interesting, especially in the beginning. However, I thought the ending could've have been a lot better. Overall, however, the book is a good read. "

" Why do I keep reading Tom Perrotta books when I never really like any of them? And yet. Edited to add: NEVER AGAIN, Tom Perrotta. Blech. And the ending was even more blech. "

" I didn't expect to like this book that much. I picked it up at a garage sale and as amazed. The characters are great, and the plot carries along nicely. "

" Audio - hard to follow from one story to another as there weren't any chapter breaks. Great characters. "

" I found the "born again" character utterly annoying. Loved the teacher and thought it was a thought provoking book. "

" Story about Ruth, the sex-ed teacher at the local high school, and Tim, now born-again Christian who is the soccer coach at the same school. Both have daughters on the soccer team. The story fails to become anything interesting...was quite bored. "

" A little twisted, more than a little crass. I won't recommend it to my M-in-Law. "