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“It was standard-issue Abstinence Ed, in other words–shameless fear-mongering, backed up by half-truths and bogus examples and inflammatory rhetoric–nothing Ruth hadn’t been exposed to before, but this time, for some reason, it felt different. The way JoAnn presented this stuff, it came across as lived experience, and for a little while there–until she snapped out of her trance and saw with dismay how easily she’d been manipulated–even Ruth had fallen under her spell, wondering how she’d ever been so weak as to let herself be duped into thinking it might be pleasant or even necessary to allow herself to be touched or loved by another human being. Why would you, if all it was going to do was make you vulnerable to all those afflictions, all that regret?”

In this excerpt from Tom Perrotta’s The Abstinence Teacher, Ruth, who has been the Sex Ed teacher at Stonewood High for years, is sitting in on a presentation by JoAnn, who represents the New Deal. After inadvertantly telling her class that “some people enjoy it” when asked a question about oral sex, Ruth has reached an unexpected and uncomfortable level of infamy in her small town, as has Sex Ed.

Although it begins with Ruth’s newfound notoriety, The Abstinence Teacher, like most of Perrotta’s work, quickly becomes about the broader theme of social misfits and skewed relationships. In Election, the story centered around the school, in Little Children, the playgrounds of suburbia, and in The Abstinence Teacher, the discomfort centers broadly around the topic of religious fundamentalism, still tucked safely in the suburbs. This one just didn’t work for me. I found it dull and pedestrian, with very little new to say on any of the subjects it seemed to attempt. And those subjects–fundamentalists, prayer at soccer games, sex ed in schools, recovering drug addicts, middle-aged divorcees trying to date–stop me if any of that sounds new or interesting to begin with! Not only that, but it lacked the humor and wit that Perrotta has made his trademark in the past.

My advice, abstain from The Abstinence Teacher, and rent Election this weekend…

I saw a really good French film, a thriller, the other day. Tell No One follows the life of a pediatrician whose wife is murdered as the couple finish a romantic swim in a secluded pond. Years later, on the anniversary of their first kiss, he receives an email with a live video feed that appears to be of his late wife. He is, understandably, shocked, confused, and anxious to prove the authenticity of the image. Not so simple, d’accord! It quickly becomes difficult to weed out the good from the bad guys, the lies from the truth, and it’s somehow all the more thrilling because it takes place in Versailles, which is far more beautiful a backdrop for evil than, say, Chicago or New York. I so seldom get to movies in the theater anymore–especially indie and foreign films, which I used to review for a living–and I was was quite pleased with this one. And then….Imagine my surprise when, as the credits rolled, I saw that the film had been based on a book by none other than Harlen Coben! Shut. Up. I probably read the book, too. Coben writes great stuff, stuff you can read in a day or two. I’m not surprised I didn’t remember the story–the book came out in 2002–but I usually get that weird feeling of deja vu when the clues start to come together. Perhaps I was too intent on the subtitles and scenery to wander that way. Either way, Tell No One is a fabulous film based on a book–a rare and wonderful thing. And probably a book worth devoting a day to as well.

Again, scooping the Times Book Review (delusions of grandeur being half the fun of blogging), Michael Greenberg’s Hurry Down Sunshine is reviewed this week. The following is an excerpt:

“On July 5, 1996, my daughter was struck mad. She was fifteen and her crack-up marked a turning point in both our lives. ‘I feel like I’m traveling and traveling with nowhere to go back to,’ she said in a burst of lucidity while hurtling away toward some place I could not dream of or imagine. I wanted to grab her and bring her back, but there was no turning back.”  

For more of my take on the book, refer to the post called “Bipolar Mania Continues” in the July 2008 Archives at right.

I just read that a movie of The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd) has been made. I fell in love with that book when I read it, as did everyone I gave it to. I would have to read it again to begin to remember the story, but I don’t want to do that, and then see the film, which will no doubt pale in comparison. Nonetheless, it was a film project seven years in development and has what sounds like a tremendous cast, including Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, and Dakota Fanning. There is already a paperback out with the cast on the cover. I found Kidd’s second novel, The Mermaid Chair, to be a huge disappointment, but she does a lot of spiritual writing, and I have yet to sample that aspect of her work. The movie hits theaters in October.

Another heat wave, temperatures over 100, and if I had the time, my inclination would be to stay at home and watch movies over nachos and ice cream, preferably in a cool dark room on a big, fluffy couch. In this fantasy construct, what would complete this world better than to be watching movies about booklovers that take place in bookstores? (It’s a blog about books, remember—books, books, and more books?) –of which, I daresay, there are not many, but, of which, yes, I happen to have a few handy favorites to share.

 The first is my favorite, Crossing Delancey. It’s one of a handful of movies I’ve watched more than once. I fell in love with it because I wanted to be Amy Irving’s character, Izzy, and because I had the hots for Peter Reigert. Izzy is the quintessential NYC single working girl—who happens to work in a fabulous bookstore—meeting authors and artists, hanging out with friends, dating the wrong men. Peter Reigert is Sam. Sam is as far from Izzy’s idea of Mr. Right—or Mr. Right Now–as he could possibly be, but fate has other ideas.

 84 Charing Cross is a booklover’s classic, starring Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft, and Judi Dench. Hopkins is the owner of a bookstore, and receives a request for a book from Anne Bancroft overseas. A correspondence, and eventually a deep friendship develops, sustained by their mutual love of books and literature. It’s based on the true story of New Yorker Helene Hanff and British bookseller Frank Doel.

 Last, and most commercial, is You’ve Got Mail. It’s actually an updated version of a classic film that has nothing to do with books, but that I love just the same, The Shop Around the Corner, with Jimmy Stewart. You’ve Got Mail ever-so-mildly addresses the then-recent concern that large bookstore chains would put smaller independent stores out of business—a concern that turned out to be well-founded. Mostly, it’s a romantic comedy about people who sell books.

 If you know of more movies that feature bookstores, I’d love it if you’d leave me a comment.