Downtime

The Abstinence Teacher

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Ruth is a lonely atheist high school sex-ed teacher. Tim is a lonely stoner turned evangelical Christian. Are they destined for hot interfaith red-on-blue action? Probably, yeah. The real star of the novel is the setting. Nobody renders the world of soccer moms and sprinklers and SUVs like Perrotta (Little Children). He's the Steinbeck of suburbia.