When "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" was published in 1999, some schools in the United States banned it from their libraries and reading lists for its depictions of graphic sexual scenes, drugs, homosexuality and teen pregnancy — the usual suspects. Of course, this only increased its street cred.
At the same time, in many U.S. bookstores it's on display next to "The Catcher in the Rye," a fact that makes author Stephen Chbosky extremely proud. "I've read 'Catcher in the Rye' so many times as a kid," he tells The Japan Times. "A lot of people have said that this book is like the millennial version of 'Catcher' and they see Holden Caulfield in (the protagonist) Charlie.
"(But) I think these are two entirely different stories and Charlie and Holden are two different people with their own voices and unique perspectives. J.D. Salinger was a great influence on me, but then so were F. Scott Fitzgerald and Stephen King and Ernest Hemingway and countless others. I wasn't trying to mimic anyone's style, but I did want to stress and also portray the importance of loving great books."