Mary

An Abundance of
By John Green

"Imagine an operating room at the start of a daring but well-rehearsed procedure and you will have something of the atmosphere of An Abundance of Katherines: every detail considered, the action unrolling with grace and inevitability." -New York Times Book Review

"'A road trip' Colin said."

A = Age C = Popularity Differential H = Attractiveness Differential D = Dumper/Dumpee Differential P = Introvert/Extrovert Differential



"And Lindsey, it seemed to Colin, was some kind of rock star among the oldsters. As word filtered through the building that she'd arrived, more and more of them made their way to the picnic tables outside and hovered around Lindsey." media type="youtube" key="6-SDM_ILGbo" height="344" width="425" align="center"

"Fully fun, challengingly complex, and entirely entertaining." -Kirkus, Starred Review media type="custom" key="5430087" align="center"

"Green follows his Printz winning Looking for Alaska (2005) with another sharp, intelligent story. The laugh-out-loud humor ranges from delightfully sophomoric to subtly intellectual." -Booklist, Starred Review "'I've figured something out,' he said aloud. 'The future is unpredictable.'"

First quote: "'A road trip,' Colin said." This quote is one of the most important quotes in the book. In the quote, Colin proposes his and Hassan's idea of a road trip to his parents. Colin's parents don't approve, but they allow him to go as long as Colin calls them every night (even though he is eighteen and has graduated high school). This is very important because the whole book is about the two best friends' road trip to escape from Chicago, where everything reminds Colin of his ex-girlfriend. None of the events that Colin and Hassan experience outside of Chicago could have occurred if this simple line had not been said and the road trip forgotten. The road trip leads to all kinds of different adventures and happenings that Colin and Hassan would never have dreamed of. First picture: This is a picture of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who's assassination by bullet started World War I. While driving at the beginning of the road trip, Colin thinks of the big hole that Katherine the nineteenth has left in him. He allows his thoughts to wander and eventually ends up comparing himself to the Archduke Franz Ferdinand because they both have a hole in them. The next day, Colin spots a billboard advertising the grave of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Thinking that it's a strange coincidence, Hassan and Colin go to Gutshot, Tennessee to check out this grave. In Gutshot, they meet Lindsey and her mom Hollis. Hollis offers them a job, and that's how Colin and Hassan end up living in Gutshot, Tennessee for a good part of their summer vacation. I thought the Archduke was important because he basically led Colin and Hassan to Gutshot.

Second quote: (the math equation and factors). This is the theorem Colin labors over throughout the majority of the book. It starts out simple, but it gets more complex as he adds the additional factors that Lindsey helps him think of. This equation is the finished product of his work. It correctly graphs all nineteen of his relationships with Katherines. I thought this was important to include because it was Colin's way to prove to himself that he was more than just a prodigy. He thought of himself as a prodigy but not a genius. In his mind, prodigies learn already known facts at a fast rate, but geniuses discover new things and make breakthroughs; they have "Eureka moments." Colin always wanted a "Eureka moment," and the idea for this theorem came to him in one. This equation was Colin's potential ticket to be remembered as a great genius.

Second picture: This picture goes along with the quote above it. I used the equation to graph how a relationship between Jason Mraz, a singer with an amazing voice, and me would work out. According to the graph, we would be extremely happy for a little while, then it would all go down-hill...fast. If the line goes from below the x-axis to above the x-axis and back down, then the girl dumps the boy. If the line goes from above the x-axis to below and back, then the boy dumps the girl. In this graph, apparently, Jason would dump me pretty fast. I thought this graph would help everyone to understand how exactly the theorem was used to predict the rise and fall of a relationship. Of course, as Colin finds out, relationships can never be predicted and graphed accurately because you never know what will happen in the future, which means I still have some hope....

Third quote: "And Lindsey, it seemed to Colin, was some kind of rock star among the oldsters..." This quote describes the scene where Colin and Lindsey go to interview people at the nursing home. Lindsey hadn't had many friends when she was younger, so she would come and make friends with the old folks at the nursing home, and they all love her for it. She likes them, too, but ever since she has started dating her boyfriend TOC (The Other Colin), she hasn't visited them. They all miss her and are overjoyed to see her when she finally comes with Colin. This quote shows how much the oldsters adore Lindsey. They knew her when she looked more like a boy than a girl and when she went through her punk/goth phase, and they //still// adore her. It shows how sad it is that her boyfriend is keeping her from all those wonderful friendships she made. She shouldn't completely forget about her old friends just because she has a boyfriend.

Charging Boar Video: This video shows a feral hog charging another hog. The feral hog population in Tennessee and other states has shot up over the years, so it's not too much of a surprise when Hassan, Colin, Lindsey, and her friends go hog hunting. Colin and Hassan set out not expecting to see one, but they end up meeting one face to face. The hog they meet is massive, black, and horrifying. After staring at them for a few seconds, the hog charges Colin and Hassan. This video probably does little justice to what the hog actually looked like to the boys, but it gives you an idea of what they saw. Just try to imagine one of those creatures in the video a mere fifty yards away and looking straight at you. The boar charging Colin and Hassan is the beginning of a thrilling chain of events that leads to a surprising climax that they are very unprepared for.

Last Video: This is the music video for the song "Geeks Get the Girls" by American Hi-Fi. I found that this song fits //An Abundance of Katherines// very well because both Colin and Hassan are geeks in their own way, and they both eventually get girlfriends. Colin, even though he's a huge geek, has had nineteen girlfriends, and Hassan, a Judge Judy geek, wins over Katrina, Lindsey's beautiful friend. The song describes a boy who isn't gifted in the art of talking to girls, like Hassan and Colin, who somehow manages to go out with a girl, like they both do. Although, unlike the boy in the song, Colin and Hassan are dumped, I think that this song helps to illustrate the charm and appeal of Colin and Hassan's "geeky-ness." If this book was made into a movie, this song could be the opening song for the whole thing.

Last quote: "'I've figured something out,' he said aloud. 'The future is unpredictable.'" This is exclaimed by Colin near the end of the book in a way that would make anybody think he'd just discovered a way to end world hunger. The two people who hear it, Hassan and Lindsey, role their eyes and brush off the comment, but I think it was really important for Colin to finally figure this fact out for himself. In my opinion, this was the part in the book that really shows how much Colin has changed. Before this, he had seen his life as predictable and boring. I think his life will seem a lot more exciting now that he has made this discovery, and his life immediately becomes more satisfying once he does. I think that this line is a good way to end because it is one of the main morals of the book. The whole book supports this simple statement.