The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky · first published 1999
30% recommend60% neutral10% critical
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a young adult coming-of-age epistolary novel by American writer Stephen Chbosky, which was first published on February 1, 1999, by Pocket Books. Set in the early 1990s, the novel follows Charlie, an introverted observing teenager, through his freshman year of high school in a Pittsburgh suburb. The novel details Charlie's unconventional style of thinking as he navigates between the worlds of adolescence and adulthood, and attempts to deal with poignant questions spurred by his interactions with both his friends and family.
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It tickles me that this quote came from a YA novel of all places, but in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Chbosky writes "We accept the love we think we deserve". If that isn't one of the deepest aphorisms on psychology out there, I don't know what is.
on “Playing in the Creek” ↗…person narrative, but it is less of an annoyance now, and some of my favorite books are from that perspective. I think it was partly reading and discussing some of my friends' favorite books (e.g., The Perks of Being a Wallflower), where their enthusiasm helped me appreciate it, and partly listening to good readers (e.g., Martin Jarvis reading Wodehouse or The Dresden Files read by James Marsters). It might also have helped to…
on “The blissfully escapist comic novels of PG Wodehouse” ↗Browsing banned book lists as inspiration for books I should probably be reading. Just finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Pretty good.
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you've read so far in 2024?” ↗…"Gender Queer" by Maia Kobabe - "All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson - "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison - "Flamer" by Mike Curato - "Looking for Alaska" by John Green - "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky - "Lawn Boy" by Jonathan Evison - "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie - "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez - "A Court of Mist and…
on “Leaked government document shows Spain wants to ban end-to-end encryption” ↗…are simply bad books and in addition to being bad take an aggressive, political bent. (eg: the handmaid's tale) - Books that seem relatively anodyne, and it's not clear why they were banned. (eg: the perks of being a wallflower) - Books that governments might have feared in the old days, but are now much less threatening than other more readily-available material. (eg: 1984) I still think, even in these crazy, censorious times,…
on “Dua Lipa opens library for banned and censored books in Portugal” ↗…not just because they were reading them but also as part of whatever counter culture image they were going for. The author sort of touches on this, "But does size really matter that much? My copy of The Perks Of Being A Wallflower was so small I could fit it in my second-hand jacket when I was an angsty high schooler." For teens what they're passionate about and what they're into is part of their identity and trying to set themselves…
on “Study: Teens Think Your eBooks Are Lame, Prefer Actual Books” ↗My Shadow is Purple Wicked Where the Crawdads Sing The Perks of being a Wallflower Looking for Alaska 1989
on “How the American war on porn could change the way you use the internet” ↗What? There are a shit load of books banned for being "offensive" that aren't because of graphic displays of sexuality. The perks of being a wallflower has been banned. 13 reasons why. Slaughterhouse 5. The Decameron. Uncle Tom's Cabin. The Grapes of Wrath. Do I need to keep going? The sexual nonsense has been used recently to ban lgbt books, as if…
on “Librarians are dangerous” ↗…not immediately obvious from the first few seconds of the video nor the title of the video what the answer was. The video itself had no relevance to the discussion. The appropriate response was “The Perks of Being a Wallflower in Oxford, Pennsylvania,” along with a non-video citation showing that the book was pulled from circulation. Even if it was, it would be a non-issue. No ordinary person understands the removal of obscenity…
on “Librarians are dangerous” ↗> 4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower Wait, seriously?! I mean that's basically teen drama levels of tame, IIRC. > 12. The Handmaid’s Tale Well, that's a bit meta.
on “The most banned books in U.S. schools” ↗