The Perks of Being a Wallflower
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4.6 • 8.2K Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“A timeless story for every young person who needs to understand that they are not alone.” —Judy Blume
“Once in a while, a novel comes along that becomes a generational touchstone. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of those books.” —R. J. Palacio, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wonder
This #1 New York Times bestselling coming-of-age story with millions of copies in print takes a sometimes heartbreaking, often hysterical, and always honest look at high school in all its glory.
The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky 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 #1 New York Times bestseller for more than a year, adapted into a major motion picture starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson (and written and directed by the author), and an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (2000) and Best Book for Reluctant Readers (2000), 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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Told in a series of letters and set at the beginning of the new millennium, this cult favorite follows teenager Michael as he starts high school shortly after his good friend commits suicide. Stephen Chbosky’s vivid novel captures the turbulence and heartache of transitioning from childhood into the world of adult concerns. Whatever your age, The Perks of Being a Wallflower will stir up strong feelings associated with first loves, family drama, and learning what it means to be lonely.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
Customer Reviews
My life after Perks.
Reading the perks of being a wallflower made me feel more emotional than I already am. Not in a bad way. I started to think about my life. I started to cry. Then I started to think how much Charlie and I had in common. First off, were both emotional. After I cried, and after I thought about how Charlie and i related I started to read. My eyes started to get heavy, I looked at the time and it was about 2:30. So I decided to sleep. I woke up late for work, nothing new. And did my regular routine. I finished the perks of being a wallflower for the 10th time. And it still made me feel like I read it for the first time. I smiled, I laughed, I cried, I was happy, nervous, and also sad. Why I relate besides that fact that both Charlie and I are emotional, is that I've gone through the same things. I recommend this book! I'm sure other people could relate! But it's the fact that once you start to read it you're automatically hooked and you start to feel like you know theses people. And then you realize that they're just characters In a book and then you wish they were real. So you can talk to them. And share your feelings because life isn't perfect and that's exactly what Charlie tells you. He tells you about his life.
1 of my Favorite
Buy it. Enough said
An excellent read for anyone
Not the type of book that you would pick up on an average best-sellers list. It is controversial, and the author is not afraid to tackle some really tough subjects. But at the end of the novel, if you don't feel a little more alive, and a little more connected to what's really going on in the world of those you know, you didn't really read it. The book spoke volumes to me when I was younger, and continues to do so much later on in life. It gave me the courage to face things about myself, and things about others. Truly worth the time, just keep an open mind and remember that these things do happen, and you can't blindly ignore them, only approach them as the author does, and try to "participate".