Hollywood, Ending

2026-08-11 · story · John · 7:42 · watch on YouTube

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

John reads the first chapter of his novel Hollywood, Ending: in 2019 young actor Juniper meets her co-star Kai, then Matthew Malone, in a Pittsburgh hotel before shooting a Warhol film; John then says he is nervous for readers, since fiction feels more intimate than nonfiction.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — John reads the first chapter of Hollywood, Ending: Juniper meets Kai and Matthew Malone in a Pittsburgh hotel lobby

• ★★ Juniper: In 2019 Juniper, rereading the script for Andy Warhol Never Gets Old in Pittsburgh, is summoned to meet Matthew Malone, who plays Warhol, in his hotel lobby. (fiction) — 00:00:00
• ★★ Juniper: After her mother's death Juniper first felt relief, but learned it was not over: the dead are not in the past, because you carry them with you. (fiction) — 00:01:04
• ★★ Juniper: In the lobby Juniper notices a beautiful, magnetic boy sketching in a notebook who looks like a movie star: her co-star Kai. (fiction) — 00:01:26
• ★★ Juniper, 22, had been cast out of a relationship with a 36-year-old cinematographer who shot her last film, which flopped; with nothing lined up she enrolled in college and suspected her acting life could be over. (fiction) — 00:02:43
• ★★ Juniper has learned that true love cannot coexist with true ambition; she wants to become undeniable and stop being a former child star. (fiction) — 00:03:30
• ★ Juniper keeps a character notebook for every role, holding that the less serious your job, the more seriously you must take it. (fiction) — 00:03:57
• ★★ Juniper: Kai admits he is terrified of the shoot and of sharing a screen with Matthew Malone; Juniper, on sets since six, is at ease there. (fiction) — 00:04:27
• ★★ Juniper: Matthew Malone arrives looking much like Warhol, hugs them both and says he used to be 21, as if it were an illness one sometimes survives. (fiction) — 00:06:19

00:06:46 — The first-chapter tradition, John's nerves about fiction's intimacy, release date, pre-orders and tour

• ★★ John says reading a new book's first chapter is a tradition going back to 2008, when he read the first chapter of Paper Towns before it came out. — 00:06:46 · Hollywood, Ending, Paper Towns, Hank Green
• ★ John thanks Hank, who has already read the book, for reading it so generously. — 00:06:46 · Hank Green, Hollywood, Ending
• ★★ John is nervous for readers to read the book: paradoxically, fiction is for him inherently more intimate than nonfiction. — 00:06:46
• ★★ John says the book comes out September 22 and signed copies are available for pre-order now. — 00:07:24 · Hollywood, Ending · first in: 2026-03-31, I've Been Keeping a Secret…
• ★★ John says he is going on tour and would love to see many viewers there. — 00:07:24 · Hollywood, Ending

In the description and comments

• ★★★ The description says John reads the first chapter of Hollywood, Ending, out everywhere September 22, the eighth part of a series since 2008 in which the brothers read first chapters. — video description · Hollywood, Ending, Vlogbrothers, Hank Green

Threads in this video

• milestone · Vlogbrothers videos of each brother reading the first chapter of his new book (2008) — John says reading a new book's first chapter is a tradition going back to 2008, when he read the first chapter of Paper Towns before it came out. (00:06:46)
• reminder · John asks viewers in the US and Canada to pre-order signed copies of Hollywood, Ending (2026) — John says the book comes out September 22 and signed copies are available for pre-order now. (00:07:24)
• milestone · Hollywood, Ending: announcement and publication of John's novel (2026) — John shows the final copy of Hollywood, Ending and reads its first chapter ahead of its September 22 release. (00:00:00)

Where the stories that moved here went next

• Hollywood, Ending: announcement and publication of John's novel (2026) — completed; last: looked back, 2026-10-02

Mentioned

Central: Hollywood, Ending

Also: People: Andy Warhol

Works: Paper Towns

Concepts: fiction · grief

Places: Pittsburgh

Characters: Andy Warhol Never Gets Old · Juniper · Kai · Matthew Malone

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