The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

this is pretty much my favorite book of all time. if anyone has read it and wants to discuss it, go ahead. for those who want to learn more go here

http://academic.scranton.edu/student/HUTTONE2/

and here is the infamous poem which got me interested in the book in the first place.

once on a yellow piece of paper,
he wrote a poem
and he called it "chops"
because that was the name of his dog.
and that's what it was about
and his teacher gave him an A
and a gold star
and his mother hung it on he door
and read it to his aunts
that was the year father tracy
took all the kids to the zoo
and let them sing on the bus
that was the year his little sister was born
with tiny toenails and no hair
and his mother and father kissed a lot
and the girl around the corner sent him a
valentine signed with a row of x's
and he had to ask his father what the x's meant
and his father always tucked him in at night
and was always there to do it
once on a piece of white paper with blue lines
he wrote a poem called "autumn"
because that was the name of the season
snd that's what it was all about
and his teacher gave him an A
and asked him to write more clearly
and his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because of its new paint
and the kids told him
that father tracy smoked cigars
and left butts on the pews
and sometimes they would burn holes
that was the year his sister got glasses
with thick lenses and black frames
and the girl around the corner laughed
when he asked her to go see santa claus
and the kids told him why
his mother and father kissed a lot
and his father never tucked him in at night
and got mad
when he cried for him to do it
once on a piece of paper torn from his notebook
he wrote a poem
called "innocence; a question"
because that was the question about his girl
and that's what is was all about
and his professor gave him an A
and a strange steady look
and his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
becaue he never showed her
that was the year that father tracy died
and he forgot how the end
of apostle's creed went
and he caught his sister
making out on the back porch
and his mother and father never kissed
or even talked
and the girl around the corner
wore too much makeup
that made him cough when he kissed her
but he kissed her anyway
because that was the thing to do
and at three a.m he tucked himself into bed
his father snoring soundly
that's why on the back of a brown paper bag
he tried another poem
and he called it "absolutely nothing"
becaue that's what it was really about
and he gave himself an A
and a slash on each damned wrist
and he hung it on that bathroom door
because he didn't think
he could reach the kitchen

hey whats up wyote i haven't been on this site in a long ass time.

i read perks on your advice last year, and i thought it was pretty good. if you're into this sort of thing i'd suggest reading this other one called "please don't kill the freshman," by zoe trope. she was only 14 when she wrote this book, but it's frickin awesome.

hey! i loved that book.. im from pittsburgh so i could relate to it alot.. like the part where he is going thro the fort pitt tunnel and when he comes out the otherside he is in pittsburgh and the radio just comes back.....

This is my favorite poem... and one of three fav books. I think it's the meaning of it, the fact that when ur a child everything seems good in the world. Reality hasnt hit u yet. As u grow not only do u learn more but u realize more. We arrive in a state of conscience, we may like it we may not. Its a matter of personal strength. Can u fall into peer presure or can u beat it, and in the end r u strong enough for the coming down , the part where u realize u fell into it. I can fall into peer presure alot. I make sure that I want to do it before actually doing it but I can ralate to the charector in this book. I dont cut! but I feel similar things towards him...

dead on Entrancing. the book is so great because it captures the emotion of being a teen so well. you dont have to personally go through everything to be able to relate and understand Charlie. Charlie is the quintessential teenager.

hmm......i've never read it but i definately will now.....

This book is next on my list.

its a very very quick read. im an extremely slow reader and i finished in two days. some friends of mine finished in a couple of hours

Pretty good book, read the first chaper online and now i am goin to purchase the lil bugger

It's probably the most insightful book i've read in a really, really long time. I love to read, but it usually takes me so long. it took me less then three days to finish off the book. I did some research online about it. I didn't like what I found. I think it was so much more then an angst filled coming of age story. Every review I've read about the book says the same thing. I'm getting tired of reading "Charlie wrote letters to a stranger and spoke of his mishaps as a teen". It's so unreal. That's not what the book was about at all. At least, that's not how it seemed from my perspective. It was so much deeper then that.

I loved the book and the fact that I discovered the book on my own. I remember finding it in my art class and reading the back and was so enthralled that it mentioned both punk rock and the rocky horror picture show (punk rocky) that I raised it up, asked if it belonged to anybody, and took it when I received no reply. The only thing I don't like is the whole surprise ending where you discover the relationship between charlie and his aunt. I just find it unneccesary.

I agree about the ending. It almost ruined the whole book for me. Not a bad read though. Still liked Catcher in the Rye better.

perks was an insightful book for me. charlie is someone i can relate to, but at the same time he does seem a bit too naive to be real. i liked this book better than catcher, but i really think the two books are compared too much. charlie and holden are very different people, so the only real comparision is how two different people deal with basically the same thing, growing up. and i agree about the ending. pretty unnecessary. i still would strongly recommend it for anyone to read.

I disagree, I thought the ending fit exactly. Everything about Charlie was so bumbling, there had to be something that made him justified. I loved the book, and agree that while there are some grounds for comparing Perks to Catcher they are in totally different ballparks.