The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, is a novel that was made into a
major motion picture.
Summary
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a story styled as a series of letters written to an
anonymous (to the reader) friend. The
letters tell about the trials, triumphs, and tribulations of Charlie’s freshman
year of high school.
It is revealed early on that
Charlie is somewhat unstable by the mention of his many crying episodes. The reader is tipped off that there is
something deep and disturbing within Charlie as he navigates through the school
year. The story begins with Charlie
explaining his friend’s suicide and his confusion and sadness over this
tragedy.
Charlie begins as an awkward
outsider who becomes friends with a group of seniors. He meets Patrick in his shop class and then
runs into him at a football game.
Patrick introduces him to his step sister, Sam, with whom Charlie
immediately falls in love with.
Sam and Patrick introduce
Charlie to their group of friends and from them he learns many lessons. Charlie’s older sister and brother and a
young teacher all give Charlie a perspective of life. Charlie attends parties, celebrates with his
family, reads books, learns to drive, hurts his friends and helps his friends, and
has his first experiences with love. He,
his siblings, and his friends experience the emotional roller coaster that is
the teen years. Charlie reports on these
events as a “wallflower” who is attempting to participate in life.
In the end, the tragic reason
for Charlie’s emotional frailty is revealed along with the lesson to be true to
yourself.
Impression
This book was included on the
list of often challenged or censored books.
The content of the book includes every issue parents of teens may be
worried about… Alcohol use, drug use,
suicide, teen pregnancy, sexual encounters, homosexuality, sexual abuse, depression,
and unsafe driving. Some people feel
that by reading about these adventures, teens may feel compelled to participate
in them. Of course, this is not true. The author does not glorify or overly
dramatize the issues. The way in which
the characters respond to the issues provides insight and possibly encouragement
to others who have gone through difficult times.
Older teens will be able to relate
to the realistic voice of Charlie. His
descriptions of the events of the year will make the reader feel as if they
were there experiencing them with him.
His voice is serious and humorous at the same time so the reader is not overwhelmed
with the heavy subjects the book portrays.
Library Uses
The letter style of this book
is compelling and could be used with teenagers to encourage them to express
their feelings in a similar way. While
it is unclear to whom Charlie is actually writing the letter, it is clear that
the letter writing is therapeutic for him.
Portions of the book could be read in a small group setting and teens
could then write some of their own letters.
Professional Reviews
Aspiring
filmmaker/first-novelist Chbosky adds an upbeat ending to a tale of teenaged
angst—the right combination of realism and uplift to allow it on high school
reading lists, though some might object to the sexuality, drinking, and
dope-smoking. More sophisticated readers might object to the rip-off of
Salinger, though Chbosky pays homage by having his protagonist read Catcher in
the Rye. Like Holden, Charlie oozes sincerity, rails against celebrity
phoniness, and feels an extraliterary bond with his favorite writers (Harper
Lee, Fitzgerald, Kerouac, Ayn Rand, etc.). But Charlie’s no rich kid: the third
child in a middle-class family, he attends public school in western
Pennsylvania, has an older brother who plays football at Penn State, and an
older sister who worries about boys a lot. An epistolary novel addressed to an
anonymous “friend,” Charlie’s letters cover his first year in high school, a
time haunted by the recent suicide of his best friend. Always quick to shed
tears, Charlie also feels guilty about the death of his Aunt Helen, a troubled
woman who lived with Charlie’s family at the time of her fatal car wreck.
Though he begins as a friendless observer, Charlie is soon pals with seniors
Patrick and Sam (for Samantha), stepsiblings who include Charlie in their
circle, where he smokes pot for the first time, drops acid, and falls madly in
love with the inaccessible Sam. His first relationship ends miserably because
Charlie remains compulsively honest, though he proves a loyal friend (to
Patrick when he’s gay-bashed) and brother (when his sister needs an abortion).
Depressed when all his friends prepare for college, Charlie has a catatonic
breakdown, which resolves itself neatly and reveals a long-repressed truth
about Aunt Helen. A plain-written narrative suggesting that passivity, and
thinking too much, lead to confusion and anxiety. Perhaps the folks at
(co-publisher) MTV see the synergy here with Daria or any number of videos by
the sensitive singer-songwriters they feature.
--Kirkus, 1999
A trite coming-of-age novel that could easily appeal
to a YA readership, filmmaker Chbosky's debut broadcasts its intentions with
the publisher's announcement that ads will run on MTV. Charlie, the wallflower
of the title, goes through a veritable bath of bathos in his 10th grade year,
1991. The novel is formatted as a series of letters to an unnamed
""friend,"" the first of which reveals the suicide of
Charlie's pal Michael. Charlie's response--valid enough--is to cry. The crying
soon gets out of hand, though--in subsequent letters, his father, his aunt, his
sister and his sister's boyfriend all become lachrymose. Charlie has the usual
dire adolescent problems--sex, drugs, the thuggish football team--and they
perplex him in the usual teen TV ways. He hangs out with a group of seniors,
among whom are Patrick and Samantha. Patrick is gay, and Charlie learns about
gay. Sam is pretty, and Charlie learns about heartbreak. Sam is, alas, going
out with Craig. Charlie goes out with the uppity Mary Elizabeth. Patrick goes
with Brad but breaks up with him when Brad's father discovers their
relationship. Into these standard teenage issues Chbosky infuses a droning
insistence on Charlie's supersensitive disposition. Charlie's English teacher
and others have a disconcerting tendency to rhapsodize over Charlie's giftedness,
which seems to consist of Charlie's unquestioning assimilation of the teacher's
taste in books. In the end we learn the root of Charlie's psychological
problems, and we confront, with him, the coming rigors of 11th grade, ever
hopeful that he'll find a suitable girlfriend and increase his vocabulary.
(Feb.)
--Publishers Weekly, 1999
References
Chbosky, S. (1999). The perks of being a wallflower. New
York: Pocket Books.
Fiction Book Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by
Stephen Chbosky, Author MTV Books $14 (256p) ISBN 978-0-671-02734-6. (1999,
February 1). Retrieved May 6, 2015, from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-671-02734-6
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER by Stephen Chbosky | Kirkus.
(1999, January 15). Retrieved May 6, 2015, from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/stephen-chbosky/the-perks-of-being-a-wallflower/
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