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{{work}}
{{Multiple Works Need Separate Pages}}
{{Infobox book
| title = The Perks of Being a Wallflower
| image =
| caption =
| author = Stephen Chbosky
| central theme =
| elevator pitch =
| genre =
| publication date = February 1, 1999
| wiki URL =
| wiki name =
}}
{{quote|''"And in that moment, I swear we were infinite."''|'''The book's most famous quote.'''}}
The first
The narrator, 16-year-old Charlie, is just starting high school as a freshman, having been held back a couple of years for reasons of being in the hospital due to being emotionally damaged. The novel primarily concerns Charlie's adventures in the '91-'92 school year, and is written as an [[Epistolary Novel]], a collection of letters Charlie is writing to a friend-of-a-friend whom he was told would be a good listener. Charlie, who doesn't excel at much except reading, seems to be off to a bad start before two seniors, step-siblings Patrick and Sam, take him under their wing. And so begins Charlie's adventures into school, literature, dating, [[Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll]], teen pregnancy, [[Suicide (band)|suicide]]{{verify}}
The book was well-received and essentially the literary version of a [[Killer App]] for its publisher, the newly-launched MTV Books. It has drawn comparisons to ''[[The Catcher in The Rye]]'', primarily for being a pull-no-punches look at high school and for having a [[Point of View|First-Person Narrator]]. It also placed 6th on 2008's List Of Most Frequently Banned Books, for similar reasons.
A movie,
Chbosky wrote ''[[Imaginary Friend (novel)|Imaginary Friend]]'' as a follow-up to this novel; it was published in 2019.
{{tropelist}}
* [[A Date with Rosie Palms]]: Charlie learns about what masturbation is at one point. This leads to an incredibly [[Narm|narmful]] passage in which he describes it in awe opening one of his letters.▼
* [[A Man Is Not a Virgin]]: Averted. Charlie is.▼
* [[Ambiguous Disorder]]: Charlie is just said to be "emotionally disturbed".
* [[Bittersweet Ending]]
* [[Brutal Honesty]]: Charlie picks ''the worst'' possible time to invoke this when asked in a Truth or Dare game to {{spoiler|"kiss the prettiest girl
* [[California Doubling]]: Averted. Most of the locations for the movie, right down to the theater where they see ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show
* [[Camp Gay]]: Patrick, mostly when contrasted with Brad.
▲* [[California Doubling]]: Averted. Most of the locations for the movie, right down to the theater where they see ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show|Rocky Horror]]'', are filmed in their original locations in [[Pittsburgh]].
* [[Cool Teacher]]: Charlie's English teacher Bill.
▲* [[A Date with Rosie Palms]]: Charlie learns about what masturbation is at one point. This leads to an incredibly [[Narm|narmful]] passage in which he describes it in awe opening one of his letters.
* [[Double Standard Rape (Female on Male)]]: averted by the nightmares {{spoiler|Charlie}} suffers after being sexually abused.
* [[Dysfunction Junction]]
* [[Epistolary Novel]]: Charlie is writing these letters to someone. Evidently he just started sending them without any prior correspondence.
* [[First Girl Wins]]
* [[First Kiss]]: Sam to Charlie. She specifies that even though she has a boyfriend and sees Charlie strictly as a friend, she want his first kiss to be with someone he loves ({{spoiler|see [[Rape as Backstory]] below}}).
* {{spoiler|[[Good Girls Avoid Abortion]]}}: Averted by {{spoiler|Charlie's sister
* [[Jerk Jock]]: Brad has shades of this, and pretty much evolves into a full-fledged one {{spoiler|when his dad catches him and Patrick and beats the shit out of him.}}▼
* [[May-December Romance]]: while Charlie was held back a couple grades and should have been a junior, he's still a freshman dating a senior (Mary Elizabeth).▼
* [[No Name Given]]: Charlie's sister never has a name mentioned out loud, nor do his parents or brother. And for that matter, there's hints that "Charlie" is a pen name adopted for reasons of anonymity. (Charlie's sister has been named "Candace" in the film, probably for reasons of practicality.)▼
* [[One Steve Limit]]: Averted. Charlie's English teacher, Bill, shares a name with the limo driver for prom (Billy).▼
* [[Rape as Backstory]]: {{spoiler|Sam was molested, if not outright raped, as a young girl by a friend of her father.}} Also, Charlie's aunt was raped as a young girl, which [[Freudian Excuse|led to her having serious psychological issues]], which is why {{spoiler|she herself molested Charlie.}}▼
* [[Invisible to Gaydar]]: Brad.
▲* [[Jerk Jock]]: Brad has shades of this, and pretty much evolves into a full-fledged one {{spoiler|when his dad catches him and Patrick and beats the shit out of him
▲* [[A Man Is Not a Virgin]]: Averted. Charlie is.
▲* [[May-December Romance]]:
▲* [[No Name Given]]: Charlie's sister never has a name mentioned out loud, nor do his parents or brother. And for that matter, there's hints that "Charlie" is a pen name adopted for reasons of anonymity
▲* [[One Steve Limit]]: Averted. Charlie's English teacher, Bill, shares a name with the limo driver for prom (Billy).
▲* [[Rape as Backstory]]: {{spoiler|Sam was molested, if not outright raped, as a young girl by a friend of her father
* [[Their First Time]]: Both versions are played straight: an unanticipated tryst is interrupted by something.
* [[Twenty Minutes Into the Past]]: Published in 1999, takes place over the '91-92 school year.
* [[Wanton Cruelty to the Common Comma]]: When learning how to punctuate, Charlie scatters punctuation all over that day's letter. The next day he apologizes
{{reflist}}
{{Top 100 Banned Books 2000s}}
{{Top 100 Banned Books 2010s}}
[[Category:The Nineties]]
[[Category:Lit Fic]]
▲[[Category:Films of the 2010s]]
[[Category:Small Genres and Unclassified Literature]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Film]]
[[Category:Films of the 2010s]]
[[Category:Independent Films]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perks of Being a Wallflower, The}}
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