Chapter TWO of The Fault in Our Stars

2011-11-25 · story · John · 24:16 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Comedy & performance · tags: self promotion, song or performance, recurring series, heavy topic, community lore

John reads aloud Chapter 2 of his forthcoming novel The Fault in Our Stars, in which Hazel visits Augustus's house, then plugs the January 10th release, pre-orders and the box set.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting; John will read Chapter 2 of The Fault in Our Stars with Penguin's permission; link to Chapter 1

• ★★★ John reads Chapter 2 of his new book The Fault in Our Stars aloud, thanking his publisher Penguin for allowing it. — 00:00:07 · The Fault in Our Stars, Penguin Books, Nerdfighteria
• ★ John says Chapter 2 won't make much sense without Chapter 1 and points to a doobly-doo link to watch, hear or read it. — 00:00:07 · The Fault in Our Stars, doobly-doo

00:00:37 — Hank's permission for a long video, no punishment; recap of Chapter 1 (Hazel, Augustus, V for Vendetta)

• ★★ John says he has Hank's prior permission for the long video, so viewers who like punishing him should not try. (playful) — 00:00:37 · Hank Green, Punishment
• ★★ John recaps Chapter 1: Hazel and Augustus meet at a cancer kids' support group; he says she looks like V for Vendetta-era Natalie Portman and invites her to watch it at his house. (fiction) — 00:00:37 · The Fault in Our Stars, Hazel Grace Lancaster, Augustus Waters

00:01:23 — Reading Chapter 2: Augustus's driving, cancer perks, Hazel's cancer story, the Waters house and encouragements, the basement and free throws, An Imperial Affliction

• ★ John says he is nervous: apart from recording the audiobook, he has never read the book aloud. — 00:01:23 · The Fault in Our Stars

• ★★ Hazel Grace Lancaster: In the novel, Hazel suspects Augustus's licence was a 'cancer perk': the little things cancer kids get that regular kids don't, like signed basketballs or homework passes. (fiction) — 00:02:50 · Augustus Waters, Hazel Grace Lancaster

  “Cancer perks are the little things cancer kids get that regular kids don't.”

• ★★ Hazel Grace Lancaster: Hazel recounts her stage 4 thyroid cancer, diagnosed at 13, nearly dying with fluid in her lungs, and her survival on an experimental drug that didn't work in about 70% of people but worked in her. (fiction) — 00:03:45 · Hazel Grace Lancaster

• ★★ Hazel Grace Lancaster: Augustus's parents fill their house with sayings on plaques and pillows that they call 'encouragements'. (fiction) — 00:07:16 · Augustus Waters
• ★★ Augustus Waters: Augustus tells how, shooting free throws on his last day with both legs, basketball suddenly seemed pointless and made him think of hurdlers jumping arbitrary obstacles. (fiction) — 00:12:01 · Augustus Waters
• ★★ Augustus Waters: Augustus asks for Hazel's story, not her cancer story, and urges her not to become her disease, since cancer is in the business of taking people over. (fiction) — 00:15:10 · Hazel Grace Lancaster, Augustus Waters
• ★★ Hazel Grace Lancaster: Hazel's favourite book is An Imperial Affliction, a book so personal that recommending it feels like betrayal; Augustus promises to read it and gives her The Price of Dawn. (fiction) — 00:16:31 · Augustus Waters, Hazel Grace Lancaster

00:18:16 — Aside: John moves the light and apologises for the worse background

00:18:45 — Reading Chapter 2 continued: watching V for Vendetta, 'Without pain, how could we know joy?', the drive home and the phone number in the book

• ★★ Hazel Grace Lancaster: Facing the encouragement 'Without pain, how could we know joy?', Hazel dismisses the argument: broccoli existing does not affect how chocolate tastes. (fiction) — 00:19:51 · Hazel Grace Lancaster

  “the existence of broccoli does not in any way affect the taste of chocolate”

00:22:24 — Release date January 10th; scribd text, pre-order and box-set links; over the four-minute limit with Hank's permission; Maureen Johnson texts; sign-off

• ★★★ John says The Fault in Our Stars comes out on January 10th, in about 48 days, and hopes viewers like it. — 00:22:24 · The Fault in Our Stars
• ★ John says the chapter can also be read as text at scribd.com, with a doobly-doo link. — 00:22:54 · doobly-doo
• ★★ John puts links in the doobly-doo to all the places viewers can pre-order the book. — 00:22:54 · The Fault in Our Stars, doobly-doo
• ★★ John says hearing him read the whole book is only possible via the special box set from his last video, thanks to Brilliance Audio; link in the doobly-doo. — 00:22:54 · The Fault in Our Stars, doobly-doo
• ★★ John hopes viewers enjoy the rest of the book and is excited to share it so it is no longer just his. — 00:23:24 · The Fault in Our Stars
• ★ Signing off, John says he is going to go read his dirty texts from Maureen Johnson. (playful) — 00:23:52 · Maureen Johnson

Threads in this video

• milestone · The Fault in Our Stars: writing, title and publication (2011) — John reads Chapter 2 of The Fault in Our Stars on the channel with Penguin's permission, following his Chapter 1 reading; the book comes out January 10th. (00:00:07) → refers to Reading Chapter One of The Fault in Our Stars
• reminder · John points viewers to pre-order The Fault in Our Stars (2011) — John points viewers to doobly-doo links for all the places to pre-order The Fault in Our Stars. (00:22:54)
• asked · John points viewers to the TFiOS box set with his own audiobook reading (2011) — John says the only way to hear him read the whole book is the special box set from his last video, made possible by Brilliance Audio; link in the doobly-doo. (00:22:54) → refers to Old Man Narrates Young Girl
• rule change · Four-minute rule for vlogbrothers videos (2007) — John says he has Hank's permission to go over his four-minute limit with this long reading, so viewers should not punish him. (00:00:37)
• callback · Maureen Johnson's unrepeatable dirty texts during John's live shows (2011) — Signing off, John says he is going to go read his dirty texts from Maureen Johnson. (00:23:52)

Where the stories that moved here went next

• John points viewers to the TFiOS box set with his own audiobook reading (2011) — promotion (not a request); last: reminder, 2013-05-28
• The Fault in Our Stars: writing, title and publication (2011) — completed; last: looked back, 2026-09-22
• Four-minute rule for vlogbrothers videos (2007) — last documented in 2023 (looked back on in 2025)

Mentioned

Central: Augustus Waters · Hazel Grace Lancaster · The Fault in Our Stars

Also: doobly-doo · Four-minute rule · Maureen Johnson · Natalie Portman · Punishment · Scribd · V for Vendetta (film)

Only in the description or credits: Brilliance Audio · Penguin Books

Replies to

• continues · Reading Chapter One of The Fault in Our Stars — “There is a link in the doobly-doo where you can watch and listen to Chapter 1.”
• continues · Old Man Narrates Young Girl — “the special DVD box set that I talked about in my last video”

← Previous: Why are Barns Red and Kardashians Famous · Next → Stuffed with STUFF!