In 1999, South Hills native and screenwriter Stephen Chbosky’s debut novel, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” became a hit with teenagers everywhere who related to its sensitive adolescent narrator and depiction of the alienation experienced by high school outcasts. In the years after the book’s publication, Mr. Chbosky has continued to work in the film industry, including writing and directing the 2012 adaptation of his book.
Grand Central Publishing ($30).
Now, after 20 years, his long-awaited second novel, “Imaginary Friend,” is finally hitting shelves — but for those expecting another YA blockbuster, disappointment awaits. Instead, the book is an epic work of horror, clocking in at more than 700 pages and bringing the eternal fight between good and evil to Pittsburgh’s doorstep. Ambitious and compulsively readable, “Imaginary Friend” uses the loneliness of being the new kid in school to ignite a Grand Guignol exploration of what it means to have faith, even in the face of absolute hopelessness.
Kate Reese and her 7-year-old son, Christopher, leave their home in Michigan in the middle of the night to escape Kate’s abusive boyfriend. Their exodus brings them to Mill Grove, a small safe town in Western Pennsylvania that bears a remarkable resemblance to Upper St. Clair, Mr. Chbosky’s hometown. Kate struggles to bring in money as Christopher struggles with dyslexia at his new elementary school, but one fateful afternoon the boy disappears into the woods and isn’t seen for six days.
After his unlikely rescue, Christopher’s memory does not yield any information other than his escape was possible because of the nice man he encountered in the woods, although searches of the area come up empty. Soon, the Reeses’ lives begin to change: Christopher’s dyslexia seems to disappear, replaced with headaches; Kate wins the lottery, allowing her to pay off her considerable debt and provide her son with a proper home; and Christopher discovers an imaginary friend waiting for him in those same woods. The friend tells him to build a tree house there by Christmas — or else.
Questions abound throughout “Imaginary Friend”: Who was the nice man? Who is the imaginary friend? What happens if the tree house doesn’t get built? What happened to Christopher in the six days he was gone? These questions pave the way for a battle between good and evil that threatens the world as we know it, leading to more metaphysical questions about the nature of evil, the importance of faith, and the role of a higher power in the actions of human beings.
Mr. Chbosky, to his credit, doesn’t shy away from these questions, and his willingness to pursue and present answers to such meaningful queries is what elevates “Imaginary Friend” from a more than competent attempt at the horror genre to a formidable work on par with other genre operas that also tackle spiritual matters, like Stephen King’s 1978 behemoth “The Stand” or Justin Cronin’s “The Passage” trilogy.
The religious aspect of the book is far more overt than that of Mr. King or Mr. Cronin’s work, however, and is heavily informed by Catholic doctrine. The author’s reliance on that particular dogma forms the ethical framework for his story, and non-Catholic readers may find that same reliance a bit overbearing.
Similarly, “Imaginary Friend” is a purely Pittsburgh book, and the city and its environs play a huge role in the narrative. Giant Eagle, the Steelers and Pirates, this very newspaper: all appear in the story, and while it is certainly exciting for Pittsburghers to read lines such as “Mary Katherine drove on Highway 376 and took the Forbes Avenue exit to Oakland, where the colleges were,” one can’t help but wonder if the specificity of place might alienate non-Pittsburgh readers.
While Pittsburgh and the Catholic Church both keep their thumbs on the scale of Mr. Chbosky’s work here, his story is far larger than either of those two subjects, and his fearlessness in exploring the concept of love and forgiveness on a cosmic scale through the compelling story of a scared little boy means that “Imaginary Friend” is a book that far outstrips the expectations of his chosen genre. “Fear is not fear,” he writes toward the end of the story. “It is excitement afraid of its own light.” Readers should count themselves lucky that despite the 20-year wait, Mr. Chbosky had written a book full of its own light.
On Oct. 7, Stephen Chbosky will read from his latest novel at Carnegie Lecture Hall as part of the Pittsburgh Arts and Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10.
Wendeline O. Wright is a member of the National Book Critics Circle (wendywright@gmail.com).
First Published: September 28, 2019, 2:00 p.m.
