Stephen Chbosky Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Stephen Chbosky
Author Stephen Chbosky was born in 1970 and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His parents are Fred G. Chbosky (who is a consultant to CFOs and steel company executive) and Lea (nee Meyer and a tax preparer) and has a sister named Stacy. Stephen was raised Catholic. He is a graduate from the University of Southern California’s Filmic Writing Program.

When Stephen was a teen, he enjoyed a good blend of horror, the classics, and fantasy. He was influenced by the writing of Tennessee Williams and F. Scott Fitzgerald, as well as “The Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger.

He graduated in the year 1988 from Upper St. Clair High School, and it was around this time he met Stewart Stern, the writer of “Rebel Without a Cause” movie released in 1955. He proved to be a major influence on Chbosky’s career, after becoming a good friend and a mentor.

In the year 1992, he graduated from the University of Southern California’s screenwriting program.

During the late nineties, he wrote several unproduced screenplays, these include titles such as “Schoolhouse Rock” and “Audrey Hepburn’s Neck”.

“The Four Corners of Nowhere”, his first film, debuted at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival and it wound up winning Best Narrative Feature honors at the Chicago Underground Film Festival. It was one of the first films that aired on the Sundance Channel. He has also won the Abraham Polonsky Screenwriting Award for his screenplay “Everything Divided”. Chbosky was also a participant in the Sundance Institute’s filmmakers’ lab for “Fingernails and Smooth Skin”.

In 1994, while writing another novel other than “Perks”, he wrote the line “I guess that is one of the perks of being a wallflower”. And he recalled that he penned the line, just stopped, and finally figured out that in the sentence was the kid he had actually been looking for.

He relates to Charlie, the main character of “Perks”, but his life in high school was different in many ways.

The novel spent years just gestating inside Stephen’s mind, before he finally began researching it and finally writing it.

Since “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” was released it sold well and has been published in 31 languages and has spent a whole year on the New York Times Bestseller list. It has also been challenged several times because of the portrayal of drug use and teen sexuality. It has been removed from circulation in many schools and appeared on the American Library Association’s ten most frequently challenged books five times.

His debut novel, “The Perks of Being A Wallflower” was released in the year 1999. In the year 2012, it was adapted into a movie that starred Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, and Ezra Miller, and was written and directed by Chbosky.

“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is the first stand alone novel, which was released in the year 1999. Standing on the fringes of life will offer up a unique perspective. There comes a time to see what it will look like from the dance floor.

This is the tale of what it is like to grow up in high school. The book is more intimate than a diary, Charlie’s letters are unique and singular, devastating and hilarious. We may not know where he is living or to whom he is even writing. The only thing for sure is the world he is sharing.

Caught in the middle between attempting to live his life and attempting to run away from it sets him on an odd course through some uncharted territory. The world of mix tapes and first dates, new friends and family dramas. A world drugs, sex, and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, when all you need is that one perfect song on that perfect drive to make you feel infinite.

Readers found themselves relating quite a bit to Charlie and he is written in such a way that makes you see the world the same ways he does. The guy is lovable right from the first sentence you read, and with all the quotable lines, you will want to write a lot of them down. The book will keep you laughing, almost crying, and gasping every couple of pages.

“Imaginary Friend” is the second stand alone novel, which was released in the year 2019. Kate Reese, a single mom, is currently on the run. Determined to improve life for her and Christopher (her son), she deserts an abusive relationship during the night with Christopher with her. The both of them find themselves pulled into the tight-knit community in Mill Grove, Pennsylvania. It is about as far off the beaten path they can be. One highway in, and one highway out.

Initially, it seems like a great place to finally get settled down. Then Christopher disappears. For six terrible days, nobody is able to find him. Then Christopher emerges from out of the woods at the town’s edge, unharmed yet not unchanged. He comes back with a voice inside of his head that only he is able to hear, with a mission that only he is going to be able to complete. Build a tree house in the woods and be finished with it by Christmas or his mom and the rest of the town are never going to be the same ever again.

Quickly Kate and Christopher find they are in for the fight of their lives. Caught in the middle of a war that plays out between evil and good, with their tiny town the battlefield. Christopher is the new kid in town and just seven years old. He also has an imaginary friend.

The book takes you on a thrill ride, and gets more and more intense. The book is a complex and captivating tale that is simply a page-turner. The book takes the well-worn coming-of-age story and injects it with a bit of seriously epic action and dark proceedings. There is fantastic imagery in the book with its vivid and beautiful descriptions and the way the story is told allows you to escape into the world.