The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Novel) /

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an epistolary novel written by American novelist Stephen Chbosky. It was published on February 1, 1999 by MTV. The story is narrated by a teenager who goes by the alias of "Charlie"; he describes various scenes in his life by writing a series of letters to an anonymous person, whom he does not know personally. The story explores topics such as introversion and the awkward times of adolescence. The book also touches briefly on drug use and Charlie's experiences with this. As the story progresses, various works of literature and film are referenced and their meanings discussed. The story takes place in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 1991–1992 school year, when Charlie is a high school freshman. Charlie is the titular wallflower of the novel. He is an unconventional thinker, and as the story begins he is shy and unpopular. Chbosky names J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye as an inspiration, and pays homage to Salinger's work by naming it as one of the books that Charlie's English teacher Bill gives him to read. The book was third on the American Library Association's list of the top ten most frequently challenged books of 2009.