Perks

Passivity  vs Passion. The reason why I was so engrossed with this book other than being more intimate than a diary is that every page flipped its like opening a portal to my inner-self. Teens can relate to this since we all undergo being - THE "wallflower" somehow. But as time passes we overcome being one, we mature. But there are few who doesn't. Maybe they haven't had friends the way charlie does in this book. I dunno maybe their roots just grew beneath the walls not above it.  

The Perks Of Being a Wallflower

The novel begins in August 1991 with a teenager going by the alias of Charlie, writing to an anonymous "friend" whom he heard someone at school talking about, and decided they sounded like a nice person to write to, on the basis that he or she reportedly did not sleep with someone at a party despite having the opportunity. Charlie states that he does not want the anonymous friend to try to figure out who he is or to find him. Charlie has just begun his freshman year of high school, his brother is at Pennsylvania State University on a football scholarship, and his sister is a senior in high school. We learn that his best—and only—friend, Michael, committed suicide prior to the beginning of the book—leaving Charlie to face high school alone. Charlie often refers to his late Aunt Helen and how she was his "favorite person in the whole world" and states frequently that something bad happened with Aunt Helen, which causes Charlie to be unable to talk about her. Soon Charlie makes the acquaintance of Sam, a beautiful senior on whom Charlie develops a crush almost instantly, and her gay stepbrother Patrick, a charismatic student who is friendly to Charlie. Upon disclosing his feelings and sexual confusion to Patrick and Sam, they are not angry with him, but rather advise him how to handle his feelings privately. Sam and Patrick continue their advisory role while introducing Charlie to many people, music artists, and drugs. Meanwhile his English teacher Bill introduces him to books and encourages him to write essays about them that he will grade despite having no bearing on his English class. At the end of the book, Sam and Charlie almost have a sexual encounter, but do not when Charlie says he is not ready. During this encounter, Charlie has a flashback of his Aunt Helen, who molested him when he was younger. When Sam leaves for school, Charlie has a breakdown. The final letter is written after he is released from the hospital after several months after finally coming to terms with everything and preparing for his sophomore year of high school. At the beginning of the book, Charlie is referred to as a wallflower for his ability to observe and understand things, but over the course of a year's worth of letters, Charlie explains the efforts of the people in his life to get him to "participate" or "do things" and the feelings and experiences he has as a result.

***Download epub file here or pdf file here ***

updated links:

> click here for epub


Just recently Summit Entertainment released the trailer for the upcoming movie to be released on Sept. 2012. Another entry for book vs. movie review.

Official Trailer: