The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. Copyright 1999 by Stephen Chbosky These are my favorite quotes. :D [email protected]

[tpobaw-blog]

It's like my very first memory, which I guess is the first time I was aware that I was alive. My mom and my Aunt Helen took me to the zoo. I think I was three. I don't remember that part. Anyway, we were watching these two cows. A mother cow and its baby calf. And they didn't have a lot of room to walk around. Anyway, the baby calf was standing right underneath its mother, just kind of walking around, and the mother cow took a "dump" on the baby calf's head. I thought it was the funniest thing I had ever seen in the whole world, and I laughed about it for three hours.

Part 2, page 85.

[tpobaw-blog]

My grandma is very old, and she doesn't remember things a lot, but she bakes the most delicious cookies. When I was very little, we had my mom's mom, who always had candy, and my dad's mom, who always had cookies. My mom told me that when I was little, I called them "Candy Grandma" and "Cookies Grandma." I also called pizza crust "pizza bones." I don't know why I'm telling you this.

Part 2, page 85.

[tpobaw-blog]

I swear to God, we almost died.

Part 2, page 83.

[tpobaw-blog]

Then again, maybe my whole family has been high, and we just don't tell each other these things.

Part 2, page 82.

[tpobaw-blog]

I don't know. I'm just thinking too fast. Much too fast.

Part 2, page 76.

[tpobaw-blog]

I probably shouldn't be writing about this too much because it brings it up too much. It makes me think too much. And I am trying to participate.

Part 2, page 74.

[tpobaw-blog]

..I'm trying not to think about it too much because that makes it worse. It's kind of like when you look at yourself in the mirror and you say your name. And it gets to a point where none of it seems real. Well, sometimes, I can do that, but I don't need an hour in front of a mirror. It happens very fast, and things start to slip away. And I just open my eyes, and I see nothing. And then I start to breathe really hard trying to see something, but I can't. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, it scares me.

Part 2, page 74.

[tpobaw-blog]

There were a lot of little kids there. I watched them flying. Doing jumps and having races. And I thought that all those little kids are going to grow up someday. And all of those little kids are going to do the things that we do. And they will all kiss someone someday. But for now, sledding is enough. I think it would be great if sledding were always enough, but it isn't.

Part 2, page 73 and 74.

[tpobaw-blog]

So, instead I spent today walking around the neighborhood. I even got out my old sled and my old scarf. There is something cozy about that for me.

Part 2, page 73.

[tpobaw-blog]

..I can still remember Sam's kiss. It feels so peaceful and right. I even considered not washing my lips like they do on TV, but then I thought it would get too gross.

Part 2, page 73.

[tpobaw-blog]

Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines he wrote a poem And he called it "Chops" because that was the name of his dog And that's what it was all about And his teacher gave him an A and a gold star And his mother hung it on the kitchen door and read it to his aunts That was the year Father Tracy took all the kids to the zoo And he let them sing on the bus And 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 bed at night And was always there to do it

Once on a piece of white paper with blue lines he wrote a poem And he called it "Autumn" because that was the name of the season And 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 his father got mad when he cried for him to do it.

Once on a paper torn from his notebook he wrote a poem And he called it "Innocence: A Question" because that was the question about his girl And that's what it 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 because he never showed her That was the year that Father Tracy died And he forgot how the end of the 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" Because that's what it was really all about And he gave himself an A and a slash on each damned wrist And he hung it on the bathroom door because this time he didn't think he could reach the kitchen.

-- Part 2, page 70-73.

[tpobaw-blog]

And she kissed me. It was the kind of kiss that I could never tell my friends about out loud. It was the kind of kiss that made me know that I was never so happy in my whole life.

Part 2, page 70.

[tpobaw-blog]

..I closed my eyes because I wanted to know nothing but her arms.

Part 2, page 69.

[tpobaw-blog]

It was an old 45 record that had the Beatles' song "Something." I used to listen to it all the time when I was little and thinking about grown-up things. I would go to my bedroom window and stare at my reflection in the glass and the trees behind it and just listen to the song for hours. I decided then that when I met someone I thought was as beautiful as the song, I should give it to that person. And I didn't mean beautiful on the outside. I meant beautiful in all ways.

Part 2, page 69.

[tpobaw-blog]

I think I thought about this present from the first time I really saw her. Not met her or saw her but the first time I really saw her if you know what I mean.

Part 2, page 68.

[tpobaw-blog]

I think they started feeling bad because they didn't get me anything. But I don't think they should have because I don't think that's the point really.

Part 2, page 68.

[tpobaw-blog]

I gave Bob a little plastic tube of soap bubbles because it just seemed to fit his personality. I guess I was right. "Too much," was all he said. He spent the rest of the night blowing bubbles at the ceiling.

Part 2, page 68.