The Culture Wars Are Back

The Abstinence Teacher paperback couldn't be coming out at a more opportune time. The book was written in the heat of the culture war surrounding the last presidential election, when the issue of gay marriage was an obsession on the Christian Right. It had seemed during the past couple of years that the passions surrounding a lot of social issues had cooled a bit, but Sarah Palin changed all that in a matter of days. Suddenly, an election that was supposed to be post-partisan and focused on the economy looks like something else entirely--an old school battle between the Christian Right and the Liberal Left. Teen pregnancy, abortion, gay marriage, book burning--it's all back on the table. And if Sarah Palin met the characters in The Abstinence Teacher, they'd recognize each other right away. I'm looking forward to discussing the novel and the campaign tomorrow night, Thursday, September 4, at Porter Square Books.--Tom Perrotta