The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Dear Friend,

In my last letter, I mentioned a book from whcih I am drawing inspiration. Before I blog further, I guess its only fair to give you a brief review of the book

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.

The book is a recent addition to our literary landscape. It is about a boy named Charlie. He is a wallflower. The book is written as an epistle to an unknown person. He opens these letters by stating "I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand and didn't try to sleep with that person at that party even thou you could have." These letters continue on basically through a year of Charlie's life. The year is 1991, and Charlie is a sophomore in high school. (The same year I was a freshman in high school). The story takes you through typical struggles of a sophomore student. Except, Charlie isn't what is normally considered typical, Charlie is a wallflower, struggling to fit in, struggling to even understand sometimes.

Its a powerful story that I wish existed when I was in school. It may have helped me a lot. The story has very quickly become a cult classic. The "Catcher in the Rye" of our day. It has also garnered a lot of negative attention and has been banned in many schools. This fact upsets me tremendously.

So I like the book a lot. It is now my favorite book. I don't feel the angst I used to, and I feel I have matured a lot since I was Charlie's age, but when I do feel the pangs of self-doubt brewing, my mind naturally thinks of this book.

Hence, the blog, a view into my own psyche, will also be written as an epistle

Regards,
-Angst

p.s. here is a site with a lot of good quotes - http://www.angelfire.com/emo2/brightenyoureyes/ThePerksOfBeingAWallflower.html