You can now say that there are two Green authors. Hank Green, brother of author John Green, released his first book, “An Absolutely Remarkable Thing” on Sept. 25.
Following the release, Green brought his book tour to the Wilbur Theater in Boston on Sept. 26 with John as a special guest, which brought in many fans from across Massachusetts to the sold out venue.
In Green’s novel, he tackles the highs and lows of internet fame as 23-year-old April May finds herself launched into internet stardom after stumbling across a giant sculpture on the streets of New York City while her friend posts a video of the encounter.
With this book, Green wants people to start thinking about how “amazing and unreal” the invention of the internet is and how lucky we are to be at the forefront of this movement.
“We all get to have movie studios in our pockets now,” said Green. “We all get to make stuff, and we all get to have our voice[s] heard.”
In some ways there are echos of Green’s own online fame in this book. Green is more popularly known as one-half of the popular YouTube channel ‘Vlogbrothers’ alongside John, creator and host of the educational YouTube channels ‘Crash Course’ and ‘SciShow,’ and co-creator of ‘VidCon.’
His brother, John Green, is known for his many young adult novels including “The Fault In Our Stars” and “Paper Towns,” which have both been adapted into feature films.
Green’s humor and witty personality kept the crowd entertained throughout the show. At the event, he answered questions from the audience, spoke about his novel and performed live music.
According to Green, a sequel to “An Absolutely Remarkable Thing” is in the works.
Green discussed the importance of the connection between author and the reader, stating during the show that “authors are kind of asked to be, in part, creators of their art.”
As a child and young adult he had his favorite books, but he never had a personal connection with the authors of these books, which he explained limited his experience.
“When I was growing up I had the book, but I didn’t have the creator of the book,” said Green. “So I experienced the book as very separate from any human being.”
Green reiterated throughout the show that knowing the background behind a book allows for a different experience. This was something that he wanted to encourage. He wants his readers and fans to have a personal connection with him and his stories that expands beyond his work.
Joanna Hermanns of Wayland, Massachusetts has been to previous events featuring the Green brothers and has been a fan for several years. She came to the event because she wanted to support Green.
“There was a phase where in my sophomore year of college I started watching the Vlogbrothers,” said Hermanns. “I did try to watch a lot of SciShow and Crash Course at one point too.”
Green closed the show discussing the “goods” and the “bads” of the internet. He told the crowd that this is the last time we will ever be gathering together, which can be the same for social media.
“Those [social media sites] are like giant rooms with millions of people in them and they are engaging simultaneously,” said Green. “They are changing culture, they are creating culture, but it does not seem that way to us.”
Green explained that this is what the internet is providing; an infinite group of people to interact with virtually and that changes the way we connect.
“Getting likes is different from being liked,” said Green. “It’s a barrier to [self] creation.”
However, Green notes that the world is at our fingertips with technology and that his book is based on this idea.
“I wrote this book because it was stuff I was afraid of,” said Green. “[I wrote about] things I needed to share and to find a way to talk about [my fears].”
Green hopes that by writing this book, people realize that the internet is like a physical space where people can come together to interact and meet creators.
“We are at the beginning of this and who decides what it is going to be are the people that live there,” said Green.
