An Abundance of Katherines

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Erin Clarkson, May 25, 2011 (view all comments by Erin Clarkson)
I have never loved a book that I found on my own as I have loved the books that were recommended to me. In my publishing program we talk all the time about the future of books and the conversation inevitably comes back around to the fact that recommendations sell books. This book, An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, was recommended to me a few weeks ago by my boyfriend, and I am pleased to say that I will now count it among my favorites.

It’s about a seventeen-year-old boy named Colin. He is a child prodigy and has a serious complex about “mattering” to the world. And he has a complex over the fact that he has dated a total of nineteen Katherines in his life, and they have all dumped him. After Katherine XIX finally ditches Colin, he and his best friend Hassan decide to take a road trip, which leads them down to Gutshot, Tennessee. There they see the grave of the Archduke Ferdinand, meet a girl named Lindsey Lee Wells, and learn the history of this little town. During their stay Colin begins to formulate a Theorem of “Dumpers and Dumpees,” plotting out his love life through math. While he hopes that this mathematical equation will solve his Katherine problem and prove his worth to the world, Colin learns about what it really means to “matter.”

This book is everything that most YA books are not: funny and smart. A good number of YA books are funny"that’s what sells these days aside from the supernatural. A much smaller number are smart (The Book Thief, etc.). What really seals the deal for An Abundance of Katherines is the narration. It’s told in third person limited--which means we hear from only from Colin--with a fantastic balance of close and far narration. What that means is the narrator’s voice is sometimes so close to Colin’s thoughts that you can’t tell the difference, and other times the narrator is a completely separate entity, observing and commenting on the events of the book. Most writers can’t pull this off very well, or at all. And certainly most can’t do it with a splash of humor (from both the narrator and Colin).

The story too is simple and endearing. There’s a little romance, a little adventure, a little soul-searching. And of course some incredibly great lines. This is a book that you will quote to your friends and laugh about years from now, even when the details of the story are fuzzy. The idea and the message of this story--that it’s okay to not matter to the world, as long as you matter to those around you--comes through so strong and clear that you won’t have to remember the exact details of Colin and Hassan’s botched feral hog hunt, or the math that goes into Colin’s Theorem, or how many Katherines exactly there were, to remember why you love this book.

On a side note John Green also uses foot notes, which are surprisingly fun and unobtrusive. Nothing like David Foster Wallace, just little tidbits that add to the story.

A definite must-read for any fan of YA--or any reader in general.

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FNORDinc, January 6, 2011 (view all comments by FNORDinc)
Review -‘An Abundance of Katherines’, written by John Green

(sneak attack!) Surprise! This book was awesome! I bought it on the cheap at a thrift shop, and didn’t read the back of it. I liked the cover, the title, and the fact that it cost a whole glorious dollar… So I bought it.

Turns out, I would have paid full price for this book. Mr Green’s novel is distributed as teen fiction, but reads more like an “easy” adult novel with late teen characters.

Essentially, Colin the ex-child prodigy main character gets dumped by his girlfriend Katherine. She was the last in nearly 20 girls/women he has dated who all shared this name (not Kate, Kat, or Catherine.. always Katherine with a K). His best friend decides to take him on a Post-Graduation road trip to get his moping ridiculously crushed and infatuated self out of the house.

While on the road, Colin decides to write a mathematical equation which will assist him in determining how long a relationship with the next Katherine will last, or better, if the last Katherine will ever take him back. Oh, and I SUPPOSE I should mention he doing it while while avoiding being punched to death by angry jealous redneck boys and interviewing small town old folks who used to work in a tampon string factory…

I found myself grinning wide and laughing out loud as I read this book.

The characters were well thought out, believable, and people I would high five if they shot past on a summertime slip and slide my the front yard.

I found myself especially enjoying the faux-math explanations, the description of equations as art/beauty, the footnotes, and the absolutely constant Norman Mailer references.

Suggested for teens and adults. This is no crappy teen angsty vampire novel. It is a well thought out fiction worth ready.

-- FNORDinc.com

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karudden, January 2, 2010 (view all comments by karudden)
One of the best YA books I have ever read, discovered accidentally because I noticed my name in the title and was instantly intrigued.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780142410707

Author:

Green, John

Publisher:

Puffin Books

Subject:

School & Education

Subject:

Social Issues - Death & Dying

Subject:

Social Issues - Friendship

Subject:

Social Issues - General

Subject:

Humorous Stories

Subject:

Mathematics

Subject:

Interpersonal Relations

Subject:

Children s Young Adult-Social Issue Fiction-General

Subject:

Children s Young Adult-Social Issue Fiction

Subject:

Situations / Runaways

Subject:

Situations / Dating & Sex

Copyright:

2008

Edition Description:

Paperback / softback

Publication Date:

20081031

Binding:

TRADE PAPER

Grade Level:

from 9

Language:

English

Pages:

272

Dimensions:

8.20x5.60x.72 in. .60 lbs.

Age Level:

12-17