An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

Hardcover, 343 pages

English language

Published 2018 by Dutton.

ISBN:: 978-1-5247-4344-4

(2 reviews)

In Hank Green's sweeping, cinematic debut novel, a young woman becomes an overnight celebrity before realizing she's part of something bigger, and stranger, than anyone could have possibly imagine.

THE CARLS JUST APPEARED.

Roaming through New York City at three A.M., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship--like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor--April and her best friend, Andy, make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day, April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world--from Beijing to Buenos Aires--and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight.

Seizing the opportunity to make her mark on the world, April now has to deal with the consequences her new particular brand of …

In Hank Green's sweeping, cinematic debut novel, a young woman becomes an overnight celebrity before realizing she's part of something bigger, and stranger, than anyone could have possibly imagine.

THE CARLS JUST APPEARED.

Roaming through New York City at three A.M., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship--like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor--April and her best friend, Andy, make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day, April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world--from Beijing to Buenos Aires--and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight.

Seizing the opportunity to make her mark on the world, April now has to deal with the consequences her new particular brand of fame has on her relationships, her safety, and her own identity. And all eyes are on April to figure out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us.

Compulsively entertaining and powerfully relevant, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing grapples with big themes, including how the social internet is changing fame, rhetoric, and radicalization; how our culture deals with fear and uncertainty; and how vilification and adoration spring from the same dehumanization that follows a life in the public eye. The beginning of an exciting fiction career, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is a bold and insightful novel of now.

This description comes from the publisher.

11 editions

coral reviewed An Absolutely Remarkable Thing: A Novel by Hank Green

None

5 stars

I really, really liked this. Would I have liked it as much if I'd read it in print, instead of listening to the audiobook (which was basically perfect)? Would I have liked it more or less if I'd ever read anything by John Green first? I don't know! But I listened to the audiobook, during a stressful couple of weeks, while I was commuting and doing laundry and, at the very end, just sitting at my table, listening quietly. And I enjoyed the heck out of it.

My one critique is that there is a little bit of what seems like a call for moderate politics (this kind of "both sides are wrong and mean, even if one side is definitely wronger and meaner" thread) that I found slightly tone-deaf in today's world.

But that tiny flaw is mitigated by a deep understanding of internet culture, by an examination of …

I really, really liked this. Would I have liked it as much if I'd read it in print, instead of listening to the audiobook (which was basically perfect)? Would I have liked it more or less if I'd ever read anything by John Green first? I don't know! But I listened to the audiobook, during a stressful couple of weeks, while I was commuting and doing laundry and, at the very end, just sitting at my table, listening quietly. And I enjoyed the heck out of it.

My one critique is that there is a little bit of what seems like a call for moderate politics (this kind of "both sides are wrong and mean, even if one side is definitely wronger and meaner" thread) that I found slightly tone-deaf in today's world.

But that tiny flaw is mitigated by a deep understanding of internet culture, by an examination of the addictive nature of internet-based attention, and by a picture of a world where not only is America's president a fairly reasonable woman, but humanity also stands a chance of banding together to solve ... any problem whatsoever. As the Amazon burns and the summers get hotter and the storms get bigger, I find the hopeful threads in this book compelling. Not just compelling. Necessary.

I'm glad this book came to me when it did.

David Scrimshaw reviewed An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

Review of 'An Absolutely Remarkable Thing' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

It was fun watching how someone could use Youtube and other social media to deal with alien first contact.

But for a serious sci-fi fan, I wanted more aliens.

Subjects

Social media
Celebrity
Fiction
FICTION / Coming of Age
FICTION / Fantasy / Contemporary
FICTION / Science Fiction / Adventure