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The Perks of Being a Wallflower
written by Stephen Chbosky
Studio : MTV
by MTV
Publisher : MTV
Released : 1999-02-01
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780671027346
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 1274 reviews)
List Price : $14.00
Our Price : $7.57
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Product Description |
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Standing on the fringes of life... offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. Through Charlie, Stephen Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up. |
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Americancivilwar.com Review |
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What is most notable about this funny, touching, memorable first novel from Stephen Chbosky is the resounding accuracy with which the author captures the voice of a boy teetering on the brink of adulthood. Charlie is a freshman. And while's he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. He's a wallflower--shy and introspective, and intelligent beyond his years, if not very savvy in the social arts. We learn about Charlie through the letters he writes to someone of undisclosed name, age, and gender, a stylistic technique that adds to the heart-wrenching earnestness saturating this teen's story. Charlie encounters the same struggles that many kids face in high school--how to make friends, the intensity of a crush, family tensions, a first relationship, exploring sexuality, experimenting with drugs--but he must also deal with his best friend's recent suicide. Charlie's letters take on the intimate feel of a journal as he shares his day-to-day thoughts and feelings: I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and wonder why they're here. If they like their jobs. Or us. And I wonder how smart they were when they were fifteen. Not in a mean way. In a curious way. It's like looking at all the students and wondering who's had their heart broken that day, and how they are able to cope with having three quizzes and a book report due on top of that. Or wondering who did the heart breaking. And wondering why. With the help of a teacher who recognizes his wisdom and intuition, and his two friends, seniors Samantha and Patrick, Charlie mostly manages to avoid the depression he feels creeping up like kudzu. When it all becomes too much, after a shocking realization about his beloved late Aunt Helen, Charlie retreats from reality for awhile. But he makes it back in due time, ready to face his sophomore year and all that it may bring. Charlie, sincerely searching for that feeling of "being infinite," is a kindred spirit to the generation that's been slapped with the label X. --Brangien Davis |
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Incredible! |
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This book is amazing. it opened my eyes to so much and i am so thankful! |
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My First Time |
"Perks" was my first book that followed me everywhere. It was my first MTV book (still the best one I've read so far!) and it was my first book that stated things EXACTLY as they were meant. No wishy washy sentences here! It was real down to its core.
I loved it.
It was a book that I passed out to my friends to read. If I didn't get it back, I stalked them until they got sick of seeing my face.
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Amazing Read!!! |
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky provides an in-depth look of what it is like to grow up in high school. While the sex, drugs, and teen angst may all seem a little cliché, Chbosky does an amazing job of realistically portraying high school situations in a uniquely hilarious way through the protagonist Charlie. The story is told through Charlie's devastating letters to whom the reader may not know he is writing. The theme woven through Charlie's letters is his constant struggle between passivity and passion. Letter by letter the reader is drawn into Charlie's fanatical world only to be in awe at the story's end.
The story begins with the start of Charlie's freshman year in high school where he is prone to depression, shy, introverted, and "on the fringes of life" after dealing with the losses of a friend and his Aunt Helen. He is a wallflower, someone intelligent beyond his years but socially awkward. Some of the few people to notice Charlie's intelligence are his English teacher and newfound senior friends Sam and Patrick. With their help Charlie comes to terms with life and learns to interact. Letter by letter the plot unfolds as Charlie learns to deal with almost every tough issue know to a teen. Chbosky handles these tragic issues so well that they come off as realistic rather than over-the-top. This realism is why I believe The Perks of Being a Wallflower is such a special book.
Chbosky further develops the theme of Charlie's struggle between passivity and passion through the constant pressures he must face in his freshman year in high school. Whether it is dances, first dates, drugs, sexuality, or the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Charlie is relentlessly barraged with the task of eliminating his social awkwardness. Chbosky's realistic style leaves an impact on the reader by placing him or her into Charlie's world. There the reader gets an up close and personal view of each developing situation and becomes attached to the ups and downs associated with Charlie's life. Charlie's relationship with his teacher Bill also parallels one of the major themes of the novel. This theme is the clash between young adult and adult culture. While Charlie is trying to identify himself as a man, he continuously finds himself running away from his life and reverting back to a childlike state. Bill acts as an intermediate force between these clashing worlds and tries to get Charlie to lead a normal high school life and further provide an identity for Charlie. Bill helps Charlie get his mind off the things Charlie is running away from through books and essay writing.
In my opinion, Perks of Being a Wallflower is an amazing book that should be read by all high school students. Chbosky offers humor, drama, and a unique quality to the story that keeps the reader entertained with each turning page. The novel is truly an entertaining read and I would recommend it to anyone who has experienced the highs and lows of high school. |
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The world as seen by an emotionally detatched adolescent. |
This is not The Catcher In the Rye. That is a good thing. Every story should be able to own itself and not come across as the newest, revamped model of a well loved book that was written decades ago.
This the heartbreaking story of a brilliant, emotionally stunted, socially inept, well-meaning, sweet boy. It's a story told from his point of view in a series of letters to stranger. For those who find the writing stilted, the main character flawed, the story unbelievable, or the likelihood of such a boy having any friends: I urge you to think of this not only as a novel, but one that is voiced by an eccentric and naive freshman. For me, the very characteristics of this book that cause it to come under fire are the same ones that cause me to have nothing but praise for it. Not every freshman is a poet. Not every freshman is socially adept to the world. It is not the case that a boy will always "get" girls. Everyone starts somewhere; our protagonist just starts a little farther back.
Charlie is a fascinating character to me. The voice through which all events in the book are depicted, he is emotionally vacant; yet unaware of his own limitations. This leads to an interesting narration of events. He can tell that a character is happy or sad, but it is hard for him to really grasp the "why" behind the actions he observes.
Chobosky created a character who tells us two stories: the one he voices and the one we can imagine from the other characters' prospective. Because we are not as naive as Charlie, because we have loved and lost, we can groan at what Charlie is missing in the moments he describes. We know why it doesn't work out with some girl or why his siblings fight. He is the straight man telling a funny joke and a sad, sad tale.
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Psychologist Holstein, and author herself of a Coming of Age Book, The Truth, loves The Perks of Being a Wallflower |
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The Truth: I'm a Girl, I'm Smart and I Know EverythingThe Perks of Being a Wallflower really is a psychological masterpiece. It speaks with a universal voice and tone that almost all teens share in common, at least some of the time. It helps teens to feel at home with the inner and outer pushes and pulls of growing up and it helps parents understand better what they may have long forgotten. We all need this type of reality check as it is so easy to feel alone growing up and it is also so easy to forget the pain once we are adults. I see The Truth (I'm a girl, I'm smart and I know everything, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower as books parents should make sure their kids read at the ideal ages. The coming of age issues in The Truth hit a couple of years earlier. The girl needs to hold on to herself as she turns 12. In The Perks, the guy needs to survive, and hold on to himself as he moves into the real teen years. Both stages are critical. I'm so happy as a practicing psychologist that there are more and more fiction books out on the market that are fiction, yet accurate and helpful in-depth discussions of the transitions of growing up. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is right at the top of the list. Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, www.thetruthforgirls.com |
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