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The Perks of Being a Wallflower Paperback – August 14, 2012
| Stephen Chbosky (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky, Perks follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.
A years-long #1 New York Times bestseller, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults and Best Book for Reluctant Readers, and with millions of copies in print, this novel for teen readers (or “wallflowers” of more-advanced age) will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps feel nostalgic for those moments when you, too, tiptoed onto the dance floor of life.
- Print length224 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade level7 - 12
- Lexile measure720L
- Dimensions5 x 0.5 x 7 inches
- Publication dateAugust 14, 2012
- ISBN-109781451696196
- ISBN-13978-1451696196
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About the Author
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Product details
- ASIN : 1451696191
- Publisher : MTV Books; Media Tie-In edition (August 14, 2012)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 224 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9781451696196
- ISBN-13 : 978-1451696196
- Reading age : 13+ years, from customers
- Lexile measure : 720L
- Grade level : 7 - 12
- Item Weight : 7.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 5 x 0.5 x 7 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Stephen Chbosky (/ʃəˈbɒski/; born January 25, 1970) is an American novelist, screenwriter, and film director best known for writing the New York Times bestselling coming-of-age novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999), as well as for screenwriting and directing the film version of the same book, starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller. He also wrote the screenplay for the 2005 film Rent, and was co-creator, executive producer, and writer of the CBS television series Jericho, which began airing in 2006.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Lawrence Truett, aka Ltruett at en.wikipedia derivative work: RanZag [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviewed in the United States on July 27, 2020
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I was not put off or bothered by the sex, drinking, drugs, language or some of the other things which seemed to have burned some readers' eyes (although I will add that anyone who really believes these are not elements regularly encountered in the life of the average high school student has probably not been to high school since the days of one-room schoolhouses). My criticisms mostly have to do with the characterizations, almost exclusively centered on our main character and narrator, Charlie.
Charlie is a character who had a lot of possibilities, all mostly missed. He waffles between well-beyond-high-school profundity and confounding childishness. One minute he's pondering the meaning of life (with some real intuitiveness, sometimes) and the next he's wrapped up in some kind of nauseatingly twee description of something ("Do you know what a Secret Santa is?") And who, pray, is the "friend" on the other end of these letter entries? This "friend" whose persona would seem to have had enough rotations around the sun to know about sex, LSD, pot, heroin, etc., but has never heard of a Secret Santa or masturbation? Is this like the "Kitty" of Anne Frank's diary, or is this a real person? We never know, and the "Dear Friend" salutations and the "Love Always" closings quickly become tiresome, when at the outset the diary/letter approach seemed like a cool idea.
As other reviewers have asked, *is* Charlie meant to have some intellectual disability, or isn't he? In reading, it almost made me angry that I wasn't given enough evidence to form a conclusion, because that may or may not have formed my conclusions of the character -- or at the very least made me more forgiving of the way this character is drawn.
Worst of all, the crying! Charlie tells us "I started crying" so many times I lost count. The crying aside (if you can put it aside -- I really can't), it is impossible to tell whether the rudimentary descriptions of Charlie's feelings are devices on the part of the author, or are just egregious examples of a breaking with "show, don't tell." ("I wanted to be happy it was my birthday, but I felt upset." "...but I felt sad." "I was getting really upset.") It is simply not believable that the same character who is capable of a critical reading of "The Fountainhead" describes himself and his feelings as if he had just made a guest appearance on "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood." The result of all this messiness is a character that I not only didn't understand or sympathize with, but aggressively loathed.
It is also simply not believable that the group of "cool fringe kids," none of whom has a lot going for them either, depth-wise, would have the time of day for this sappy weirdo. By the time it was finally revealed that Charlie's past held a potential explanation for some of his feelings and behavior, I simply didn't care. I haven't disliked a central character this much in a long time, but the problem is I don't think the author intended him to be unlikable.
So, "Dear Friend," to each his own, but it's not my own!
We follow Charlie through a year of school (freshman year when we meet Charlie). He introduces us to his friends Patrick, Sam (Patrick’s sister), Bill (Charlie’s English teacher who thinks the world of Charlie), Charlie’s sister, brother and parents and those he comes in contact with. We learn secrets of these people, things that happen to them that only Charlie can share with us and things that happen to Charlie that he can only share with us. There are somethings he won’t tell us, which is fine
-Patrick (high school senior) is gay and having a secret affair with Brad, the star quarterback of the school
-Charlie’s sister (high school senior) gets pregnant and has an abortionCharlie has a crush on Sam (but you’ll have to read the book to find out what happens with those two)
-Charlie takes LSD, has taken up smoking cigarettes and weed and drinks at times
-Charlie gets a girlfriend and loses that girlfriend and his friends in the process (you have to read the book to understand it more)
We learn how dysfunctional Charlie’s family is but not in a disturbing way. More in a normal dysfunctional way, where the sister hates the brother at times. Father ignores the son at times. No likes Charlie at times. But mostly, we grow to like Charlie right away and hope for the best for him.
Although Charlie is a wallflower by nature, he still remains a wallflower in his own way throughout the book when he’s with his friends at parties or at Big Boy. He becomes part of the party while still sitting on the sidelines. He is apart of the many conversations while still sitting on the sidelines. Not physically of course. His letters are detailed that it’s like he was watching everything go down as well be apart of everything.
Charlie has a way of staying positive throughout the letters even when things are going really wrong for him, because he has us to talk to. These letters are a way for him to remain sane through it all the best he can.
Perks reminds me of my high school days and how simple things really were then. Charlie begins realizes this too through the book.
There were some things I didn’t understand since the book is written between 1991 and 1992. For instance, the time Charlie comes home to find his sister watching Gomer Pyle. Gomer Pyle was in the 70’s. The author fails to tell us if the sister is watching via TVLand or another station that plays old shows. Doesn’t it matter? Yeah, it does to me, but then again, I’m probably being too particular. Charlies bring up VHS tapes, but I had remember this was the early 90’s and that’s what we had then. He talks about writing letters; again, the 90’s and email was not known or used widely then.
I don’t find the 90’s as being that long ago and reading this book really made me realize how primitive (compared to today’s standards) we were. In essence, pen and paper were the tools of the day. Not Facebook, not emails, not Twitter, but pen and paper. There is a point in the book that Charlie is given a typewriter by Sam..a typewriter. Again, it’s the time period. I still think typewriters are great.
Some have Said that Charlie is this generation’s Holden Caulfield from Catcher In The Rye and I strongly disagree. Holden was a rebel from the beginning; Charlie was a loaner and never did become a rebel in my opinion.
This book will resonate with anyone of any age and I feel it will become a favorite among those that are teenagers now when they get older, like Judy Blume books are with us adults now.
Top reviews from other countries
Epistolary novels are not unusual; it's a well worn trope for a soul-revealing look at life. But WHO is Charlie supposed to be writing to? I was waiting for a big reveal, expecting a 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' type shocker where we'd find out that there either was no 'friend' or that the friend was his dead aunt, a past abuser, his psychiatrist or just anybody who actually had a part in the book. He refers to a psychologist but never clarifies WHY he sees one, hints at anger management issues and then turns into an avenging ninja when his friend is attacked. It's all just a bit of a mess. Throw in just about everything that could happen to a group of teens - drugs, alcohol, pregnancy, suicide......... - it's like the author had a check-list of big issues to shoe-horn into the story. Where was anorexia and bulimia? I think I missed those but the rest of the angst-bag was emptied out and thrown around.
It's not all bad. I enjoyed the friendship between Charlie, Sam and Patrick but even that had its dysfunctional elements. I enjoyed being reminded of the joy of the mixed tape - what DO teens do these days? Swap 'play lists'? I enjoyed some of the Rocky Horror Show reminders - but there was TOO much. And I liked the perspective of the child-like innocent observing and reporting.
I can see that arty teens will LOVE this book - just as generations before them loved 'Catcher in the Rye' but from what I recall, not that much actually happened in that either. Reviewers suggest the film may make more sense than the book. I'm really not sure that I can be bothered.
I’ve seen nothing but good things about this book but never given it a try. The internet is full of quotes from the story and I think you’d be hard pushed to find someone who’s never at least heard of the title (this book has more than 1 million ratings on Goodreads and the film was well reviewed too).
Charlie is a socially awkward freshman, writing letters to an unnamed friend. He tells his friend absolutely everything, from his homework assignments to his first erection and so much more.
Image result for the perks of being a wallflower
Source: Tumblr
This is a short book, but it is packed with some difficult and heavy subjects including suicide, domestic abuse, drug use, rape and abortion.
I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I had wanted to, and I found the writing style and structure to be somewhat tiring. Charlie writes with innocence and the author has chosen his sentence structure and grammar to represent this. I understand the technique and have really enjoyed other books like this in the past, but on top of those tricky subjects, this didn’t make for an easy or enjoyable read.
“I don’t think that there is a favorite kid in our family. There are three of us and I am the youngest. My brother is the oldest. He is a very good football player and likes his car."
Another point I’m somewhat frightened to admit to you all is that I didn’t feel sad and I wasn’t really affected by this book in any way. Am I too cold-hearted? Probably! 🙈
I felt the story was a little too melodramatic for my tastes, but I certainly understand why people love it. I also give it huge credit for addressing these topics, especially those so increasingly faced by teenagers today. I think that if I had read this when I was younger, I’d probably have enjoyed it a lot more but at this point in my life, it wasn’t for me.
Overall rating: Contrary to popular opinion, I didn’t love “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and the writing style was most responsible for this. I didn’t hate it, but I just didn’t feel it was for me – 2 stars.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 2, 2019
I’ve seen nothing but good things about this book but never given it a try. The internet is full of quotes from the story and I think you’d be hard pushed to find someone who’s never at least heard of the title (this book has more than 1 million ratings on Goodreads and the film was well reviewed too).
Charlie is a socially awkward freshman, writing letters to an unnamed friend. He tells his friend absolutely everything, from his homework assignments to his first erection and so much more.
Image result for the perks of being a wallflower
Source: Tumblr
This is a short book, but it is packed with some difficult and heavy subjects including suicide, domestic abuse, drug use, rape and abortion.
I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I had wanted to, and I found the writing style and structure to be somewhat tiring. Charlie writes with innocence and the author has chosen his sentence structure and grammar to represent this. I understand the technique and have really enjoyed other books like this in the past, but on top of those tricky subjects, this didn’t make for an easy or enjoyable read.
“I don’t think that there is a favorite kid in our family. There are three of us and I am the youngest. My brother is the oldest. He is a very good football player and likes his car."
Another point I’m somewhat frightened to admit to you all is that I didn’t feel sad and I wasn’t really affected by this book in any way. Am I too cold-hearted? Probably! 🙈
I felt the story was a little too melodramatic for my tastes, but I certainly understand why people love it. I also give it huge credit for addressing these topics, especially those so increasingly faced by teenagers today. I think that if I had read this when I was younger, I’d probably have enjoyed it a lot more but at this point in my life, it wasn’t for me.
Overall rating: Contrary to popular opinion, I didn’t love “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and the writing style was most responsible for this. I didn’t hate it, but I just didn’t feel it was for me – 2 stars.
Reviewed in Brazil on January 12, 2021
I struggled to get excited about this book. We know Charlie is a wallflower and was traumatised earlier in his life by what happened with Aunt Helen, and that he is coming of age in the early 1990's. Yet despite all this it didn't quite add up for me.
We spend a year with Charlie and all these events happen to him, yet not until the very end did he try and alter his behaviour or try and steer in a slightly different direction. It just seemed to be more of the same. I know when I was young and impressionable and wanted to please people I tried to act differently to fit in. Where as Charlie was very emotional, not afraid who saw him being emotional, and constant in his thoughts and actions.
I think I tired of the letter style too, as it became repetitive after a while. I hoped the recipient would be revealed at some point but frustratingly it never was. Here's my theories:
Surely nobody writes this many letters! I'd say Charlie was closest to Sam (love interest), then Patrick (friend), then Bill (teacher friend) - all above his family. He never referred to talking about these letters with any of his friends or family. So I was thinking maybe he was writing them to himself, but he did post them, and I'm sure he would have mentioned his family becoming suspicious at the amount of letters. There is chance he was using an alias so it wasn't Charlie at all, just another member of the group of friends? But that still doesn't answer who the recipient was. Whoever it was I also feel they would have made some effort to contact Charlie, or contact the polic e to block his mail, but neither happened!
I appreciate this book is aimed at young adult, and as a 40 something not aimed at me. But I hasten to add, I'm a massive, massive fan of Catcher in the Rye which is a similar style and age group, yet far superior in my opinion. I found 'Catcher' more genuine, witty and in a better writing style and format.
SPOILER/TW BELOW
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The book is considerably more explicit than the more well known film adaptation. There are explicit scenes of rape and it deals heavily with the consequences of childhood sexual abuse. It doesn't take away from the impact of the book, but I was a little blindsided as I hadn't realised that it would be different from the movie. I would exercise caution giving this to a younger reader, as it appears suitable for teens but some of this content might not be appropriate depending on the person.









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