An Abundance of Katherines

novel · in 64 videos (2007–2026)

John's novel about Colin Singleton, which came out in 2006 and won a 2007 Printz Honor. Its line about trying to do something remarkable went viral, though John meant it as a joke the book spends its length undoing; the book was optioned for a movie that was never made. In June 2012 a 17-year-old nerdfighter's design won a fan contest for its new cover.

By: John Green · Adapted as: An Abundance of Katherines (film) · Within: Colin Singleton, Lindsey Lee Wells, Hassan Harbish

Videos by year: 2007: 22 · 2008: 6 · 2009: 7 · 2010: 4 · 2011: 6 · 2012: 3 · 2013: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2026: 1

Also known as: AoK

Threads

John's An Abundance of Katherines receives a Printz Honor (2007) — story, followed over 4 videos (2007), 2007
An Abundance of Katherines film adaptation (2007) — project history, last documented in 2007 (looked back on in 2024), 2007–2024
John's Hollywood meetings in Los Angeles (2007) — story, told 1×, 2007
John attends the LA Times Book Prize ceremony (2007) — story, followed over 3 videos (2007), 2007
John asks viewers to improve the Wikipedia entries for John and his novels (2007) — ask, reported back, 2007
John and Sarah's trip to the Netherlands for An Abundance of Katherines (2007) — story, followed over 4 videos (2007), 2007
John: tell Hank whether he still likes An Abundance of Katherines after rereading it (2007) — promise, open (no report in 2007–2026), 2007
John rereads An Abundance of Katherines for a secret reason (2007) — story, told 1×, 2007
Hank's Anagramming Guide to the presidential elections (2007) — project history, last documented in 2011 (looked back on in 2013), 2007–2013
An Abundance of Katherines paperback release (2008) — project history, proposed, 2008–2009
A line from John's An Abundance of Katherines goes viral on Twitter out of context (2010) — story, told 1×, 2010
John asks Nerdfighters to submit cover designs for An Abundance of Katherines (2011) — ask, reported back, 2011–2012
An Abundance of Katherines fan cover contest (2011) — project history, completed, 2011–2012
John points viewers to his earlier novels to read while waiting for The Fault in Our Stars (December 2011) — ask, promotion (not a request), 2011
John: hold a fundraiser event with Daniel Biss for his Illinois Comptroller campaign, his last public appearance before VidCon 2016 (November 2015) — promise, open (updates through 2015, not reported done), 2015
John's inside joke of using the word 'deadpan' exactly once in every book since An Abundance of Katherines (2007) — running joke (last seen 2024), 2021–2024

Also named in the threads: Brotherhood 2.0: the 2007 year of daily video letters · 'In your pants' suffix game (2007) · John catalogues his home library (2007) · Hank's crush on Helen Hunt (2007) · Paper Towns movie option by Mandate and Mr. Mudd (2008) · This Is Not Tom: John's story told through weekly online riddles (2009) · John points viewers to pre-order The Fault in Our Stars (2011) · The Anthropocene Reviewed book: announcement and publication (2020)

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

Looking for Alaska (novel) (27) · Paper Towns (19) · Will Grayson, Will Grayson (4) · Julie Strauss-Gabel (4) · Penguin Books (3) · The Fault in Our Stars (9) · made of awesome (3) · Brotherhood 2.0 (7) · EcoGeek (3) · Daniel Biss (3)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2007

2007-01-22 · Brotherhood 2.0, January 22, 2007 — John says the Printz Committee called him the previous night (21 January 2007) to say An Abundance of Katherines had been awarded a 2007 Printz Honor, which was nice and really unexpected. — 00:00:12
2007-04-26 · Brotherhood 2.0: April 26: Hollywood Meetings — John's most important meeting of the day is with people who might want to make An Abundance of Katherines into a movie. (hedged) — 00:00:59
- Despite the prediction, John reports that the meeting went really well. — 00:02:38
2007-05-18 · Brotherhood 2.0: May 18: How to Write a Book Proposal — John says he and the Yeti leave today for the Netherlands to support his new novel. — 00:00:00
2007-05-22 · May 22: Brotherhood 2.0 in Amsterdam — John expected Amsterdam to be a drug-addled den of iniquity, 'Las Vegas, but with legal weed', but finds it one of the cleanest, most beautiful cities he has visited. — 00:01:11
2007-05-24 · Brotherhood 2.0: May 24: How to Happy Dance — John says his happy dance is huge in the Netherlands: people from his Dutch publisher in Rotterdam asked him to do it outside the restaurant where they took him to dinner. (playful) — 00:01:47
2007-06-22 · Brotherhood 2.0: June 22: The Senator — announcement: John: At the conference John will accept the Printz Honor for An Abundance of Katherines and speak on a panel with Judy Blume. — 00:00:31
2007-07-31 · July 31: HP, Secret Siblings, and Books — John: For a top-secret reason John must read the finished An Abundance of Katherines, breaking his vow never to read his books once published; he has read Looking for Alaska only in snippets at bookstores. — 00:01:52
2007-08-09 · August 9th: Anagramming Guide to the 2008 Elections — Hank announces he will choose whom to vote for by anagramming the candidates' names, with John's An Abundance of Katherines in mind. (joke, hedged) — 00:00:58
2007-11-13 · November 13: You Can't Scare Me. I'm Stickin' to the Union. — John: To producers who say unknown internet revenue rules out a residual rate, John replies that his audiobook publisher can't know its MP3 sales either; a percentage works whether four or four million sell. — 00:02:36
2007-12-10 · Dec. 10: MY BOOK IS GONNA BE A MOVIE!!! (someday) — announcement: John announces that, after a long time in the works, the deal was agreed over the weekend: the production company East of Doheny has optioned An Abundance of Katherines to make a movie. — 00:01:12
- John gives three reasons he is excited: he always thought the book could be a funny, cool, interesting movie; East of Doheny likes the same kinds of movies; and they want him to write the screenplay. — 00:01:42
…and 34 statements more in 2007 — all statements of 2007

Also named in: Brotherhood 2.0: February 16th

2008

2008-01-08 · The Return of Question Tuesdays — John: Asked whether his two narrators combined would make his adolescent self, John says 'kinda', but notes differences: for one, he wasn't a good student in high school. (hedged) — 00:02:04
2008-07-01 · Live from LAX — John: Signing Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines, John met one sweet-looking old lady who loved the first half of Looking for Alaska but said the second half fell apart. (playful) — 00:01:42
2008-07-08 (said on 2008-07-07, implied) · Hank Tried to Kill Me With a Hammer — announcement: John asks whether viewers like the paperback cover of An Abundance of Katherines, out August 8 for $3.99. — 00:03:51
2008-08-06 · Question Tuesday Returns (on a Wednesday) — John: Asked why the new An Abundance of Katherines paperback costs only $3.99, John says books are generally too expensive, he would rather have readers than money, and it thanks readers in advance for buying Paper Towns. (hedged) — 00:00:45
2008-10-06 · Berlin and Let it Snow (in Your Pants) — John: A fan of German insults, John says he used 'sitzpinkler', a man who sits to pee, about a hundred times in his second novel. (playful) — 00:01:21
2008-10-24 · Paper Towns MOVIE1!!!11! — John recalls that on the day An Abundance of Katherines came out, he and the Yeti found no copies at a bookstore, then went home, had soup and watched CSI. (playful) — 00:01:50

2009

2009-04-28 · 10 Book Reviews in 4 Minutes — announcement: Hank says John, bestselling author of Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines, is writing another book, This Is Not Tom, released through weekly riddles. — 00:02:38
2009-06-01 · DFTBA Street Team In Your Pants — Maureen Johnson: As E. Lockhart sought a title for what became The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, Maureen, staring at John's cream cheese, proposed adding 'in your pants' to any title; Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines came first. (playful) — 00:02:00
2009-11-01 · NaNoWriMo!!! — John's examples from revision: Miles' obsession with famous last words in Looking for Alaska, the feral-hog hunt in An Abundance of Katherines, and the cartography in Paper Towns. — 00:01:29
2009-12-27 · How To Be a Nerdfighter: A Vlogbrothers FAQ — Hank says John is an award-winning author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns who has won awards including the Edgar and the Printz. — 00:00:49
…and 1 statement more in 2009 — all statements of 2009

Also named in: Peeps! Prom! Puppy!, Question Tuesday

2010

2010-03-29 · Quotations (And Holden Hats) — John: Googling himself, John found that a line he wrote years ago in An Abundance of Katherines has gone viral on Twitter, tweeted more than 10,000 times. — 00:01:03
- John says the line ('what is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable') was meant as a joke: it is what Colin Singleton believes at the start and spends the book learning is bull. — 00:01:17
2010-08-20 · The Fox Hat IS REAL, but Are Zombies People? — John: Downstairs shelves include author copies of his own books, desert island books, lexicography, child prodigies, Mark Twain, books about death, poetry, religion and conjoined twins. — 00:01:56
2010-10-13 · On Hope and Chile — John reasoned relationships have few outcomes, so a formula predicting who ends one should be possible; he wrote a novel about someone who could, with the formula by Daniel Biss. — 00:01:12
- Someone has permanently tattooed that formula on her arm, John reports: 'Is this real life?' — 00:01:39

Also named in: Foreign John Green Books and the Ultimate Concern

2011

2011-02-04 · QUESTION FRIDAY: Spelling is Hard Edition — ask: John: Readers must also promise to read one of John's actual books so they don't think he is as bad a writer as the novella suggests. (playful) — 00:02:10
2011-06-06 · Men Running on Tanks and the Truth about Book Editors — John: Without Julie, An Abundance of Katherines would have had a 75-page guide to tanning a roadkill raccoon's hide instead of Colin and Hassan hunting feral hogs; in 2005 he was into hide tanning. — 00:03:02
2011-10-19 · Question Wed — THE COVER OF THE FAULT IN OUR STARS! — announcement: John: Excited by the fan-designed covers for The Fault in Our Stars, Penguin will let Nerdfighteria design the new cover of An Abundance of Katherines; one submission becomes the actual cover, maybe forever. — 00:01:02
- John asks viewers to submit covers via abundanceofcovers.com (linked in the doobly-doo), joking that the future of An Abundance of Katherines depends on it. — 00:01:02
2011-10-21 · Signing Psychosis, BlizzCon, TFiOS, Awesome Adventures, and URLatron — Hank says the fan-cover project convinced a publishing company, for the first time in history, to put a book in bookstores with a cover designed by its fans. — 00:01:27
2011-12-21 · 2011 Presidential Anagrams!! — Hank: In 2008, in the vlogbrothers' first year, Hank anagrammed the presidential candidates' names; now, nearly in 2012, he anagrams this year's (2011) Republican presidential hopefuls. (playful) — 00:00:00
2011-12-23 · There Will Be NO SPOILERS!!! — ask: John: The Fault in Our Stars is still available for pre-order, and meanwhile viewers can read John's other books (the description names Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns). — 00:02:50

2012

2012-06-05 · The Dangling Rope of Terror: It's Question Tuesday — announcement: John: Asked what happened to the An Abundance of Katherines cover contest, John says it is part of why he is going to New York: on Thursday (7 June 2012) he announces the winner and reveals the cover. — 00:00:31
2012-06-12 · Chris Colfer, John Green, Mob Wives, and Jeffrey Eugenides: Thoughts from Places Book Expo — announcement: John was at BEA for interviews and signings and to reveal the new An Abundance of Katherines cover, designed by a 17-year-old longtime nerdfighter who then left for her prom. — 00:00:29
2012-08-28 · In Which the Candle Dies — announcement: John shows the new box set, designed by Karen Kavett, with hardcovers of Looking for Alaska without the candle, the new Paper Towns design and Nerdfighter Sarah Turbin's Katherines design. — 00:00:29

2013

2013-01-11 · On the Ownership of Ideas — Hank recalls making a video anagramming presidential candidates' names; about a week later The Daily Show did the same, but John, through his writer friends, found its segment was written first. — 00:00:00
2013-01-15 · An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall — John says after years of bad stories about a chaplain like himself, he wrote Looking for Alaska, about grief, and An Abundance of Katherines, about not being special. — 00:51:58

2015

2015-10-20 · Nerdfighteria's Resident Comptroller? — announcement: John: The fundraiser adds a special reception at 6:00pm in the Freehling Room next to the hall; main-event tickets cost $40 and include a signed copy of An Abundance of Katherines. — video description
- The description gives the fundraiser details: John and Daniel will talk government and politics on Saturday, November 21st at Ravinia Festival's Bennett Gordon Hall, Highland Park, Illinois. — video description
- John will hold a fundraiser for Daniel next month (November 2015), his last public appearance before VidCon; tickets are $40 and every attendee gets An Abundance of Katherines signed by both. — 00:03:32
2015-11-18 · SUIT UP! A Very Fancy Reunion Video (Pizzamas Day 8) — announcement: The description reminds Chicagoans that John will be talking with Daniel Biss this weekend in Highland Park. — video description

2017

2017-01-24 · On Motivation — John says the characters in An Abundance of Katherines hopefully spend the novel learning that an unremarkable life can be fulfilling and meaningful. (hedged) — 00:00:40
…and 2 statements more in 2017 — all statements of 2017

2018

2018-04-17 · John Green Answers Your John Green Questions — John lives in Indianapolis, where TFIOS and Turtles All the Way Down are set; earlier he lived in Chicago (part of An Abundance of Katherines), Birmingham, Alabama (Looking for Alaska) and Orlando, Florida (Paper Towns). — 00:00:35
2018-08-14 · Question Tuesday: Secrets & Primes — John reveals an inside joke with himself: each of his books has a prime-minus-one number of chapters; TFIOS and Turtles All the Way Down have 24, Will Grayson, Will Grayson and An Abundance of Katherines 20. — 00:01:12

2019

2019-04-23 · untitled — John quite likes the title An Abundance of Katherines, which he wrote before the story, though the Italian title, 'The Catherine Theorem', is much better. — 00:00:58

2021

2021-05-11 · I am a small boat. It's Question Tuesday. — John confirms he used the word 'deadpan' exactly once in The Anthropocene Reviewed, as in every book since An Abundance of Katherines, another 14-year-old joke he enjoys. — 00:02:36
2021-09-14 · I do this every. single. tuesday. — John: In late 2006, after An Abundance of Katherines came out, John quit his day job to write full time, found himself still inconsistent and the empty days terrifying, and three months later invented an unpaid job, this channel. — 00:01:34

2023

2023-12-24 · John and Hank Hanging Out but they Keep Getting Younger and More Pixelated — both: Asked whether they have real jobs: Hank runs the environmental technology site EcoGeek; John is an award-winning author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns. — 02:17:44

2024

2024-02-06 · The Truth of How Books Become Movies — John says most optioned books never become movies: An Abundance of Katherines was optioned and never made, and Paper Towns was optioned three times first. — 00:00:29
…and 1 statement more in 2024 — all statements of 2024

2026

2026-02-27 · Can We Do a Science Together?? — Hank asks whether all 19 Katherines of An Abundance of Katherines count, says no, and names its protagonist as Miles before correcting himself to Colin Singleton. (playful) — 00:01:31

Also named in other years (nothing said): My New Book, Marriage Advice, and Hamilton: 50 Snapchat Questions Answered! (2016-03-29)