She Needed Me (1992)

In this first novel by the author of the acclaimed story collection, My Hard Bargain, anti-abortion boy (Weaver) meets pregnant girl (Kim) at an abortion clinic. He takes her home for a moral massage, but his animal instincts overrun his Christian principles and a romance is born. It's a great idea that doesn't fly. Weaver lacks the blind passion of a fanatic, and once Kim's reproductive choice is made, Kirn refuses to tell whether their relationship — or Weaver's faith — survives. Walter Kirn's She Needed Me oscillates artfully between religious satire and romantic sincerity but ultimately stalls in literary indecision. B-