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Trapped in the Tumblr Closet: Stephen Chbosky

In 1999, Stephen Chbosky’s debut novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower was in every gym locker and JanSport. It was passed around at slumber parties, smuggled inside biology textbooks, and banned from schools around the country. Written entirely in letters to an unnamed stranger, Perks explored sex, drugs, friendship, loneliness, movies, music, and everything else on the teenage mind. Today, the film of this beloved book, 13 years in the making, finally opens in theaters, starring Emma “Hermione” Watson. We trapped Chbosky in our closet to find out what it all feels like.

— Rachel Fershleiser

I feel like most lit nerd kids growing up wanted to write a book like this, I was definitely one of them, though I’m interested in seeing this movie, and not so much reading a book everyone thought about writing in high school.