But Mr. Perrotta said he purposely did not take what he called the Tom Wolfe immersion approach to researching the novel. Instead he wanted to learn just enough to make the novel plausible. At one point he heard about a woman in New York who had, like Ruth, been disciplined for remarks she made in a sex-education class.<\/p>\n
Mr. Perrotta called the woman, but when she never returned the call, he was actually relieved. \u201cI was happy with what I\u2019d written,\u201d\u009d he said. \u201cOnce I\u2019d even heard that the story I was telling sounded familiar and possible, that was enough for me.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
He said he had no idea how an evangelical Christian audience would respond to the book. One character in particular, the aggressively pious Pastor Dennis, seems in some respects to fit a typical liberal perception of an evangelical preacher. But Mr. Perrotta said he actually admired the character\u2019s integrity and authentic caring for Tim. Above all Pastor Dennis is not a hypocrite, Mr. Perrotta said. \u201cLike a lot of secular Americans after that first wave of evangelical televangelists crashed and burned, like Jimmy Swaggart and Jim and Tammy Faye, there was this sense of, \u201d\u02dcI know who those people are, they\u2019re just a bunch of hypocrites,\u2019\u201d\u009d he said. \u201cIt took me a long time to understand that a lot of them were completely genuine.<\/p>\n
After the abstinence rally in Wayne, Jason Burtt, the national director of Silver Ring Thing, the organization that mounted the event, approached Mr. Perrotta in the lobby and started chatting with him about the novel. When Mr. Perrotta explained the plot, Mr. Burtt said he didn\u2019t believe in coercing teachers. \u201cIt is so unconvincing when someone in school is forced to teach abstinence if they don\u2019t believe it,\u201d\u009d Mr. Burtt said.<\/p>\n
As he prepared to drive back to his mother\u2019s house, Mr. Perrotta said he was struck by how courteous and nonconfrontational Mr. Burtt had been. Over all, he said, evangelical Christian culture seems mostly polite, as well as extremely un-ironic. In response, \u201ca certain kind of collegiate irony is like a reflex,\u201d\u009d Mr. Perrotta said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a reflex of superiority and condescension. It just wells up. But when I write, I try to quiet it down.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Imagine that, a lot of them being completely genuine. And their culture polite, too. My oh my. Read it all<\/a>–KSH.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" But Mr. Perrotta said he purposely did not take what he called the Tom Wolfe immersion approach to researching the novel. Instead he wanted to learn just enough to make the novel plausible. At one point he heard about a…<\/span><\/p>\n