The Perks of Being a Wallflower: Screenplay

by Stephen Chbosky, David Lapeyrouse

Kindle Edition

Published January 11, 2022

About the author

Stephen Chbosky grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the University of Southern California's Filmic Writing Program. His first film, The Four Corners of Nowhere, premiered at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win Best Narrative Feature honors at the Chicago Underground Film Festival.

He is the recipient of the Abraham Polonsky Screenwriting Award for his screenplay Everything Divided as well as a participant in the Sundance Institute's filmmakers' lab for his current project, Fingernails and Smooth Skin. Chbosky lives in New York.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_...

Reviews

[Erica Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this book because it was on the list of books being reviewed to possibly remove from the high school libraries. I almost abandoned the book around page 40-ish because it didn’t hook me early on. The narrator tended to ramble on. I am so glad I kept reading. What a beautiful story!
From the book- “And even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn’t really change the fact that you have what you have. Good and bad…Maybe it’s good to put things in perspective, but sometimes I think that the only perspective is to really be there.”

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Perks of Being A Wallflower is one of my favorite books. And I thought the film adaptation was one of the best I've ever seen from a book to film. Reading this Screenplay was so vivid, it felt like I just watched the film itself. A very quick but fulfilling experience and read.

[Tomatkrukan · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5, love this book too. I was going through some shit at the time of reading this and I felt so recognized and like I wasn’t actually batshit crazy or going insane so that’s good.

[Nazmus Sadat · Rating 4 out of 5]

- 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧, 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 🎭📝?

Ω 𝐎𝐧𝐞-𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a coming-of-age novel told through a series of powerful letters by Charlie, a socially awkward and emotionally vulnerable teen in his freshman year of high school, who—through kinship with two seniors—discovers friendship, first love, personal struggles, and his own self-worth, while also uncovering difficult truths about life, adolescence, mental health, his haunted past, and the search for identity.

💭 𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: Chbosky’s cult classic isn’t just a YA novel—it’s a raw nerve dressed in poetry; reading it feels like walking barefoot through broken glass—painful, beautiful, and honest in ways few YA novels dare to be. Through Charlie’s achingly sincere voice (equal parts naive and profound), we experience the messy glory of adolescence: midnight tunnel rides with The Smiths blaring, first kisses that taste like cigarettes and hope, and the gut-punch of realizing adults are just as lost as kids. What makes Perks timeless isn’t just its '90s mixtape nostalgia (though that’s delicious), but how it holds space for all the awkward, ugly-beautiful parts of growing up—mental health, sexual identity, and the quiet trauma of being “different.” The fragmented storytelling (like memory itself) forces you to read between Charlie’s lines, making the final revelation land like a sledgehammer to the soul. Yes, there are moments where the prose feels too simple or deliberately quirky—but that’s part of its charm. It’s honest, not polished. And sometimes, honesty is the bravest thing a book can offer.

𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, I think guys don’t usually admit it, but many of us had an Aunt Helen in our lives—perhaps the chauffeur’s wife, an older cousin, a former boss, or a friend’s colleague’s elder sister. Whoever they may be, I hope things get better for all the Charlies out there. Because every Wallflower deserves a happy ending.

✨ 𝐅𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬:
1. “𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒.”
2. “𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝐼 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒.”

❤️ Did this book punch you in the gut too? Hit the 👍 to say, “𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞.” 🔖 Save this post for your next emotional read & 📤 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐄 it with someone who needs to feel seen.

🔔 Follow me for more bookish ramblings, reviews, and recommendations.
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[Khayra◜𖥦◝ · Rating 4 out of 5]

When i first started reading it i was quite confused at the format and how the story was written. It felt messy and random but the more i read it, i realized that the way it was written was intentional and showed how the Charlie grew up and learned more, it is such a small and intricate detail that some might miss that i found wonderful.

I really loved how the main character actually expresses his feelings so when i was reading it you could sort of relate or empathize with him. I don’t know about others but i could find myself relating to him in certain situations and the emotions he felt so it made me feel seen like someone understood me.

MASIVE BUT. I did think that it was unnecessarily sexual? there was some sexual moments that i thought didn’t really add anything to the book but made it weird.. for example, Charlie and Patrick was hanging and they were telling stories and one if them was a about a girl who masturbated with a hotdog(?) idk i felt like it would’ve been ANYTHING else than that.

Overall, excluding the weird sexual parts, this book was a pleasant read, i read it whenever i had the chance. I loved the characters and the emotions, very nice👍

[szmaragdowa · Rating 4 out of 5]

𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5

[współpraca barterowa z @weneedya]

„Zalety bycia niewidzialnym” to książka, do której na początku miałam mieszane uczucia. Nie mogłam się do niej przekonać, z tego powodu, że nie za bardzo lubię czytać książki w formie listów. Jednak pomimo tego, muszę przyznać, że zostałam mile zaskoczona po kilku przeczytanych wpisach Charliego.

Listy Charliego zawierają wiele wartościowych cytatów, które pozwolą wam trochę inaczej spojrzeć na świat.

Tak naprawdę nie wiemy jak wygląda główny bohater, poznajemy tylko jego świat i życie.
Świat pełen emocji, pełen bólu i humoru jednocześnie oraz pełen wielu życiowych lekcji.
Książka zdecydowanie warta przeczytania.

Jest to chyba jedna z nielicznych powieści która naprawdę we mnie „uderzyła”.

Zaprzyjaźniłam się z taką formą pisania i napewno sięgnę po inne pozycje tego typu.

[Valery Ortiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book because it is very interesting. It gets more exciting as you read and makes you want to keep going. It shows little by little how Charlie starts a new life. Charlie starts his first year of high school, and at first, he doesn’t know how to belong. He feels lonely and doesn't have many friends, but later he meets Patrick and Sam, who become very good friends. With them, Charlie starts to try new things, like falling in love and feeling accepted.

What I liked the most was how the friendship between Charlie, Patrick, and Sam grows stronger. They help each other a lot and share both good and bad times. Also, Charlie has problems in his family, like abuse, which hurt him a lot. But thanks to his friends, Charlie starts to feel better and deal with those problems. Their friendship is very important to him and helps him move forward.

[clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

vou botar q foi esse pq o outro n ta dando. ate q foi rapidinho ler ele. tipo eu nao odiei. mas e q e meio tedioso. ao mesmo tempo q nada acontece tudo acontece. ah enfim. o charlie nao saber dizer nao e ser muit people pleaser me irritou mais o tadinho nao comntrola isso ne . eu queria tanto um epilogo dele no futuro . tipo sera q ele fez amigos? ele ta mantendo contato com os amigos dele?? enfim !

[RIKY · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the beautifullest book ive ever read. An absolute rollercoaster of plot twists with no cliffhangs. I’m actually amazed at how this book is written, im actually going insane about this. If you’re an angsty teenager who lacks friends at school and want to start reading books so recess isnt as boring and lonely like me, this book is absolutely perfect. 1000000 stars

[maraa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[yesmyb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amei

[Eva Cruz]

DNF - it’s not my type of book 📖

[Eilema · Rating 4 out of 5]

"sam, you ever think that if people knew how crazy you really were, no one would ever talk to you?"

[Angelina Parente · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very quick read and was very interesting. There were lots of unexpected plot twists.

[Maiany · Rating 5 out of 5]

não tenho nem palavras pra descrever os sentimentos mais profundos que pude sentir ao ler isso.

[Ava Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best flims of all time ❤️❤️❤️

[kenzie marie ౨ৎ˚⋆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

personally, I loved the movie adaptation. I haven't read the book YET but it is on my bookshelves currently. I love the cast and the way they blend.

[Eleonor Solari · Rating 4 out of 5]

comfort book

[⋆˚𝜗𝜚˚⋆ Sienna ⋆˚𝜗𝜚˚⋆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the movie, loved the book

[! hafsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

never have i ever felt this seen.

[Florence Boudreau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok guys, this has to be my favourite book of all time. I mean, I just love everything about it. For me, it's the best YA novel ever written. The main character Charlie is just so relatble and real. What I love the most about this book, is how real it is. Somehow, teenagers all over the world are able to relate to the story one way or another. It really is a book about teenagers FOR teenagers. I also love the format in wich it is written. The letters to an anonymous person really makes us understand how lonely and in need for a friend Charlie was. It also brings the intersting question of who is that anonymous person? As i am writting that review, it,s already been a while since I have read this book, so the reveiw can not be to specific, but I just want to say that this book really is my comfort book. I read it at least once a year every year and it makes me feel less lonely. Every teen should read this book.