An Abundance of Katherines
by John Green
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Read in September, 2006
recommends it for:
anyone who needs a fun read
Picture this: You used to be a childhood prodigy. Member of an academic game team. You excelled in school. You were special. You met a girl named Katherine and the two of you started dating.
Then she dumps you.
Then eighteen more girls named Katherine dump you.
Suddenly, you're a teenager with no claim to fame except for your former status as a prodigy. No new ideas. No girl. No plans for the summer excepting wasting away in your room and moping.
This is not your life. But it is Coli...more
Then she dumps you.
Then eighteen more girls named Katherine dump you.
Suddenly, you're a teenager with no claim to fame except for your former status as a prodigy. No new ideas. No girl. No plans for the summer excepting wasting away in your room and moping.
This is not your life. But it is Coli...more
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Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com
If you had the opportunity to devise a theorem that could correctly predict the outcome of a romantic relationship, would you do it? If it worked, would you use it? Can it even be done? This is the problem plaguing Colin Singleton, recent high school graduate, nearly-former child prodigy, hopeful genius. Colin, you see, has a significant problem. He falls in love quite easily, which in and of itself isn't such a bad thing. The fact that all of his loves, ni...more
If you had the opportunity to devise a theorem that could correctly predict the outcome of a romantic relationship, would you do it? If it worked, would you use it? Can it even be done? This is the problem plaguing Colin Singleton, recent high school graduate, nearly-former child prodigy, hopeful genius. Colin, you see, has a significant problem. He falls in love quite easily, which in and of itself isn't such a bad thing. The fact that all of his loves, ni...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
not really sure who
I was not terribly impressed with Katherines. I read Green's Looking For Alaska and thought it was one of the best young adult novels I have ever read SO I was expecting this book to measure up to a higher standard. Unfortunately, it did not even come close.
Here's my beef with the book:
1) The characters. I had a really hard time getting into Katherines because the characters were not too likable. Green gave the characters personalities, but he missed somethin...more
Here's my beef with the book:
1) The characters. I had a really hard time getting into Katherines because the characters were not too likable. Green gave the characters personalities, but he missed somethin...more
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
Math geeks and misunderstood nerds of all ages
Damn, what a great book! An Abundance of Katherines represents the best kind of young adult fiction - the kind that even my regular, non-YA-fic-geeky grown-up friends might like to read, because it's just a fantastic, universal, well-crafted story.
The characters in this book are uniformly likeable, but not in a bland way; in particular, the friendship between protagonist Colin, a washed-up child prodigy, and his buddy Hassan, a wise-cracking Muslim, is dead-on about the way guys comm...more
The characters in this book are uniformly likeable, but not in a bland way; in particular, the friendship between protagonist Colin, a washed-up child prodigy, and his buddy Hassan, a wise-cracking Muslim, is dead-on about the way guys comm...more
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Read in April, 2008
This was a great book but somewhat difficult to read. Everyone should give it a try. It is from the guy's perspective. In short, it is a story of Colin (the protagonist) who is a genius and falls in love with girls named Katherine. Colin classifies everyone into two categories, the Dumpers and the Dumpees. Colin is a dumpee, he is always dumped by his girlfriends (probably because he is such a nerd).
I enjoyed the hilarious footnotes throughout the book. For example, "The world record fo...more
I enjoyed the hilarious footnotes throughout the book. For example, "The world record fo...more
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Read in January, 2008
I think I already said this in a review but I might just need a break from young adult fiction, because everyone I know who reads YA raved about this novel and I read it from cover to cover without once really engaging, and with far too many inward groans and eye-rolls.
I mean, for starters, the quirky teenaged characters were, um, very quirky. Very reliably quirky. Everyone had their schtick and everyone talked like they were in a Joss Wheden show. And hey, I LOVE Joss Whedon but it's a diff...more
I mean, for starters, the quirky teenaged characters were, um, very quirky. Very reliably quirky. Everyone had their schtick and everyone talked like they were in a Joss Wheden show. And hey, I LOVE Joss Whedon but it's a diff...more
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Read in October, 2006
Good. It took me a while to get into it, but it works... highschool audience (not middle school) Gr. 9-12. Green follows his Printz-winning Looking for Alaska (2005) with another sharp, intelligent story, this one full of mathematical problems, historical references, word puzzles, and footnotes. Colin Singleton believes he is a washed-up child prodigy. A graduating valedictorian with a talent for creating anagrams, he fears he'll never do anything to classify him as a genius. To make matters wor...more
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Read in July, 2007
An Abundance of Katherines tells the story of Colin, who was dumped by his 19th Katherine on the same day he graduated from high school (he's managed to only date girls named Katherine so far). Colin is riddled with anxiety because he was a child prodigy and hasn't really done anything as he's grown, and child prodigies usually do something big by his age. Being dumped by Katherine isn't helping his depression, so his best fried, Hassan, who is a bit of a Judge Judy-loving slacker, insists they ...more
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Read in January, 2006
The author of Printz winner Looking for Alaska spins another story about lost love which is — while more comedic and less tragic — no less moving. In an attempt to understand and/or outrun the albatrosses in his life, Colin Singleton takes a road trip after graduating from high school. He needs to leave behind the eighteen girlfriends (all named Katherine) who dumped him, and eighteen years as a prodigy crushed by people's expectations of him. Traveling with his best friend Hassan, they deci...more
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Read in April, 2008
I enjoyed this book so much! It's the laugh-out-loud-funniest book I think I've ever read, even beating out A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck. (But to be fair, A Long Way from Chicago is shorter.)
Colin Singleton is a prodigy. He speaks 11 languages, does anagrams for fun and can name the junior senator of New Hampshire in 1873. He has just graduated from high school and h...more
Colin Singleton is a prodigy. He speaks 11 languages, does anagrams for fun and can name the junior senator of New Hampshire in 1873. He has just graduated from high school and h...more
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I really, REALLY, REALLY wanted to love this book. I really did. As a nerdfighter, I was ecstatic when I started reading it. But right from the beginning, I knew it was going to be a big disappointment. And I was right.
It's definitely not as good as Looking for Alaska. Colin (not TOC) is just plain annoying. He's always got something matter-of-fact to say and it makes you roll your eyes after the third time. He was hard to like. Also, the footnotes drove me CRAZY. Despite the...more
It's definitely not as good as Looking for Alaska. Colin (not TOC) is just plain annoying. He's always got something matter-of-fact to say and it makes you roll your eyes after the third time. He was hard to like. Also, the footnotes drove me CRAZY. Despite the...more
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Read in January, 2007
Colin Singleton is a child prodigy, winner of the grand $10,000 prize on KranialKidz. He speaks Arabic, German, French, and a half-dozen other languages and he's just graduated high school. So why's he so unhappy? For starters, he's been dumped by his girlfriend, coincidentally the nineteenth girl he's dated named Katherine. Secondly, "[a]s Colin has explained... countless times, there's a stark difference between prodigy and genius...
Prodigies can very quickly learn what...more
Prodigies can very quickly learn what...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
boys! because they don't read enough YA!
This book has a girl cover and a girl title (at least I think so), but it is SUCH a boy book. I don't think I've read a really, truly boy book in a long time, so I'm glad it was disguised so cleverly.
I had my hopes up to about the height of the Sears Tower for this book, so when I say I was a little disappointed with it, it's both a bad thing and a good thing. Not as fantastic as I hoped it would be, BUT... when your hopes are that high and you're only a little disappointed, it cert...more
I had my hopes up to about the height of the Sears Tower for this book, so when I say I was a little disappointed with it, it's both a bad thing and a good thing. Not as fantastic as I hoped it would be, BUT... when your hopes are that high and you're only a little disappointed, it cert...more
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Read in July, 2007
Maybe it's because I taught high school for so many years, but I find myself relating so clearly to that age group. Fantastic novel -- really captures the whole heartache of getting dumped (although in Colin's case it's something he should be used to by now...) Green's characters are funny and moving and heartfelt and real -- such a distinctive voice. Lots of great stuff here -- proves that a good story really is in the details. Loved the math theory underlying the formula at the heart of the no...more
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Read in December, 2006
recommends it for:
people who like strong ya, people who like funny books
In An Abundance of Katherines, our protagonist is Colin Singleton, child prodigy, high school graduate, and dater of nineteen women (or girls) named Katherine. Colin, having just been dumped by Katherine #19, is depressed and in a funk, and his best friend Hassan, a sarcastic, overweigh Lebanese guy, decides that the best thing to get Colin's mind of the latest Katherine is a road trip. And so off they go, driving aimlessly until they end up in Gutshot, Tennessee, where they make new friends, ar...more
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Read in March, 2008
This is a delightful, clever and all-around fun read. Within the first two chapters I was already in love with the main characters, Collin and Hassan. The story is filled with a wealth of humor and funny anecdotes and asides. The author's voice is strong throughout and, though the book is not written in first person, he often breaks the 4th wall to banter with the reader. It's a charming and engaging habit that helps move the story along.
Collin has a history of dating Katherines (with a K, n...more
Collin has a history of dating Katherines (with a K, n...more
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I really, REALLY really liked this book!
I didn't enjoy what I read of "Looking for Alaska" by the same author, so at first I had my doubts, but one page into this book, and I was hooked. I actually stayed up late and got up early to finish it, and both times I laughed out loud and woke someone up.
The main character is a kid named Colin, a 'washed out' child prodigy who, though he makes a point to read 400+ pages a day, is fluent in 11 languages, and can anagram anything in the...more
I didn't enjoy what I read of "Looking for Alaska" by the same author, so at first I had my doubts, but one page into this book, and I was hooked. I actually stayed up late and got up early to finish it, and both times I laughed out loud and woke someone up.
The main character is a kid named Colin, a 'washed out' child prodigy who, though he makes a point to read 400+ pages a day, is fluent in 11 languages, and can anagram anything in the...more
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When Colin is dumped by Katherine XIX, he is thrown into a fit of depression. His best friend, Hassan (not a terrorist) convinces him to go on a road trip to get over his depression. After a brief, hilarious stop in Kentucky, they end up going to Gutshot, Tennessee, to see the tomb of Franz Ferdinand. There, they meet Lindsey and her mother, Hollis, who offers the boy a place to stay and a job conducting oral history reviews of people who work or have worked for her textile company (which now...more
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Read in June, 2007
Former child prodigy Colin Singleton has two problems: one, he doesn't think he's really turned out to be a genius so much as a guy with a super-absorby brain and a passion for anagrams; and two, he's been dumped by nineteen different girls named Katherine, and the latest, Katherine XIX, has really broken his heart. To try to solve this problem, Colin's best friend Hassan decides that they should go on a road trip—which they do, though it ends abruptly in the small town of Gunshot, Tenn...more
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Read in October, 2007
I hate John Green. He's so freaking good.
My wife gave me his first book, Looking for Alaska, which might simply be one of the best books I've ever read. This one is clearly not up to that level, but still amazingly clever and unique.
How else but unique could one describe a book about a Chicago child prodigy with a Jew-fro, a drive to produce theorems and a history of getting dumped by 18 women named Katherine who travels to rural Tennessee with a Muslim named Hassan whose favorite words...more
My wife gave me his first book, Looking for Alaska, which might simply be one of the best books I've ever read. This one is clearly not up to that level, but still amazingly clever and unique.
How else but unique could one describe a book about a Chicago child prodigy with a Jew-fro, a drive to produce theorems and a history of getting dumped by 18 women named Katherine who travels to rural Tennessee with a Muslim named Hassan whose favorite words...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.00 (815 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.00 (798 ratings) number of reviews: 216popular shelves
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""Here's to all the places we went. And all the places we'll go. And here's to me, whispering again and again and again and again: iloveyou""
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