Perks Of Being A Wallflower Essay

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Stephen Chbosky's first novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, closely follows the life of new freshman Charlie and his tremulous journey through his first year of high school. Charlie, the eponymous wallflower, learns many of the clichéd high school lessons that are taught to him by new friends, foes, and love interests. Though he thought it impossible, Charlie makes new friends with step-siblings Sam and Patrick who help Charlie in his scary first year of high school. There have been quite a few instances of this book being challenged in America due to its more adult subject matter; parents have felt this book is not suitable for their children even when these kids are young adults--the age group that this book seems to target. Though this novel contains some…show more content…
He graduated from the University of California’s filmic writing program and went on to have his first film, The Four Corners of Nowhere, be premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. He published his first novel in 1999, though The Perks of Being a Wallflower takes place between 1991 and 1992. Chbosky has said that Perks was never meant for adolescents to read, he never intended for such things to happen. “Chbosky never intended The Perks of Being a Wallflower to be a novel for adolescents; however, its focus on adolescents has caused critics to view it as such.” (Thompson, 2007) But because the book is mainly focused on the life of a young teen and his peers, critics view it as a young adult novel. Stephen Chbosky said once in an interview with Marty Beckerman from Wordriot.com, that he didn’t write the book for it to be challenged. He said that he wrote the book for very personal reasons; Chbosky began the book on a Saturday morning when a couple of ideas he had clicked together. While the book is said by Chbosky himself to be meant for adults, it has helped so many younger readers out
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