Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Perks of Being a Wallflower in Books We Love



This summer I read Stephen Chbosky’s the perks of being a wallflower, and I found it charming and complex.  I decided to teach it this fall, and my freshmen loved it, too.  A friend told me I was  trending on tumblr because my students were discussing the book so much.  It isn’t flashy in terms of literary devices; however, it is a humble, coming-of-age story about a group of friends set during the early nineties.  My students laughed when the characters gave each other mix tapes.  (Most of my students were born in 1994, so there’s that…)  We also enjoyed the film adaptation of perks.  I suppose that it is a rare treat to connect with students on a shared turf.  I cherish this book because it enabled us to discuss diversity, depression, friendship, music, literature, Rocky Horror Picture Show, bullying, The Smiths, politics and even abortion.  A lot of reviewers refer to it as a modern Catcher in the Rye, but I think the act of comparing it to anything else strips it of its funky-freshness.  Check it out, yo!

Shannon Sawyer is a Ph.D. candidate in English, and an instructor at the University of North Texas. 

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