The Perks of being a Wallflower was written by Stephen Chbosky in 1991. It is 231 page book which is divided into 4 parts and some pages with epilogue in the end. In the novel Charlie writes many letters to a stranger whom he calls his friend, even though Charlie has never actually met this person.
The setting of the book takes place in America in the town Charlie lives in. The story goes through Charlie's first year in high school in 1991-1992. All the letters Charlie writes have dates, therefore, you always know when Charlie is writing the letters.
Charlie is just fifteen years old and has just begun his first year in high school. It is clear from the beginning of the novel that Charlie is struggling with his life. He misses his Aunt Helen, who passed away when he was just seven, and his best friend, who had committed suicide.
Through all these events Charlie feels very lonely and misunderstood. Charlie struggles with many things in life however, he finds great pleasure in his English skills and discussing of the novels he's read, with his teacher Bill. Bill gives Charlie books to read to help Charlie understand life and hopefully learn about himself from reading. Charlie becomes friends with a couple of upper classmen named Patrick and Sam, and he gets to know their friends. Sam and Patrick introduce Charlie to many new things, such as experimenting with drugs and alcohol, but he never really feels a part of it. Charlie's relationship with Patrick and Sam gets really deep throughout the year. At the end of the school year, Charlie has many mental breakdowns, and in return Charlie winds up in the hospital. Charlie wants to get out of his own mind and into the real world,