There are a small handful of books that any young punk rocker must read at some point. Not just books like On The Road or any of the plethora of books on Punk, but actual fiction that portrays young punks as they are, kids who are passionate about music, politics and life. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is the first of these punk rock books. Though not an overt depiction of punk rockers, the rest of the books in this short series of reviews will be, Perks of Being a Wallflower deals with the real outcasts of high school society, not just the people who aren't star quarterbacks, but people who actually run in an entirely different circle. The group of kids in Wallflower could care less about football players or cheerleaders, they aren't ostracized because they want to be in those crowds, they actively choose not to be in those crowds and concentrate instead on things like playing Frankenfurter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Saturday night, or talking to the awesome girl you like.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower straddles that line of awkward adolescence and self-discovery. The main character, Charlie, deals with girls, masturbation, and finding out that his best friend is gay. In each case, Chbosky infuses the exhilaration of adolescence with the pain of growing up and the overall fun of midnight showings of Rocky Horror.
Happy Reading,
Julia
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