However, Chbosky revisited Perks this year in honor of its twentieth anniversary. “I knew that I could write another book exactly like Perks in my sleep.” Imaginary Friend is a complete departure both in terms of structure and genre from Perks, but Chbosky wanted to challenge himself. “About ten years ago, when I finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower screenplay, and I fell in love with prose all over again, I said, ‘let’s try this.’” Chbosky said the original idea for Imaginary Friend came to him about seventeen years ago, but he took a while to actually start writing. It is a horror epic centering on a young boy named Christopher who hears a voice only he can hear insisting he build a treehouse. Now, twenty-years after Perks was published, Chbosky debuted his second novel, Imaginary Friend. But since I didn’t consider myself a proper author, I thought, ‘Oh I just did that once, and that was fun. “The fact that it was a successful and a lot of people loved it was very gratifying to me. “When I wrote The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I was still a movie guy,” Chbosky recalled.

However, Chbosky, now 49, thought of the idea of Perks in college, and wrote the novel by 26.

These were all things he has probably heard countless times before, but he thanked me genuinely, without a hint of pretentiousness.Ĭhbosky knew early in life that he wanted to be a screenwriter, though not necessarily a book author. He listened to me ramble on about how I was a huge fan of his, how I was super excited to meet him, and how I thought about the line from Perks, “We accept the love we think we deserve,” basically every day. I met Chbosky (pronounced Sh-bosky) in the Miami Dade College library. Stephen Chbosky, the giant of young adult literature, radiated kindness and empathy he was the wise and understanding mentor taken straight out of the genre he helped perfect. It was incredible just meeting him, but what moved me more than anything was his character.

Chbosky was at the Book Fair to promote his new novel, Imaginary Friend. He also wrote the screenplay for Rent, directed the live-action Beauty and the Beast, the film adaptation of Wonder, and the upcoming Dear Evan Hansen movie. He is best known for writing the coming-of-age staple, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, as well as writing and directing the film adaptation. I interviewed him as a “Teen Member of the Press” for the Miami Book Fair. Stephen Chbosky might be the nicest person I’ve ever met.

Author Stephen Chbosky sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Catalyst editor Viviana Freyer ’20.

Books by stephen chbosky