Early Life
John Green was born on the 24th of August in 1977, in Indianapolis, Indiana. His parents are Mike Green and Sydney Green. Soon after his birth, the family was in a constant move; first, they shifted to Michigan. Then to Birmingham before settling in Florida. He also spent his childhood in Orlando, where his parents helped him improve his creative abilities.
Education
John Green started his educational journey at Lake Highland Preparatory School, where he completed his elementary and middle schooling. Unfortunately, his experience at school was terrible due to the constant bullying from the fellow students making his life miserable. Later, he attended Indian Springs School and after graduation, he was admitted to Kenyon College, where he gained a double major in religious and English studies. After graduating from college, in 2000, he was enrolled at the University of Chicago Divinity School to become a priest. John also worked at a children’s hospital that proved a good experience for his future career. The miseries of the people and the life-threatening situation that he witnessed in the hospital made him rethink the choice of his life. Thus, he gave up the idea of the priesthood and decided to become a writer.
Some Important Facts about John Green
- He married Sarah Urist on the 21st of May in 2006 and the couple has two children.
- His books have been published in more than twenty languages.
- In 2012, his tour de force, The Fault in Our Stars, was added to The New York Times Best Seller list.
- In 2014, his literary services secured him a place in Time Magazine’s list of The 100 Most Influential People in the World.
- His novels, Paper Towns, The Fault in Our Stars, and others were taken for film adaptations.
- He also runs an educational YouTube channel ‘Crash Course’.
His Career
The most popular author of the current era, John Green started writing when he was young and earned huge followers during his lifetime. His experience in a children’s hospital forced him to pursue writing as a career. After completing his studies, he spent several years in Chicago, where he completed his first masterpiece, Looking for Alaska, published in 2005. The publication proved a huge massive success by winning the annual Michael L. Printz Award. Later, in 2006, he came up with another big hit, An Abundance of Katherine’s. The appreciation and admiration added more to the glory of this bright author. After two years, with fellow young authors, he collaborated on Let it Snow: Three Holidays Romances.
The book once again brought fortune for the young man. His third novel, Paper Towns came in 2008, winning the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Novel and the 2010 Corine Literature Prize. His next book, The Fault in our Stars, published in 2012 earned him a rapid success. This book was also awarded the Teen Book of the Year Award in 2013. His other notable works include Turtles All the Way Down, Double on Call and Other Short Stories, and The Space & The Cat and the Mouse.
His Style
After establishing his career as a writer, John’s creative, witty, and philosophical ideas brought variety to the literary world. His works primarily focused on the experiences and feelings of real people in real situations. Using intellectual concepts and down to earth real language mixed with compassion and humor, his books have proved treats for a wide variety of his readers. Moreover, with his ambrosial and wistful writing style, he successfully creates certain experiences for his audiences. Marked with the blend of expectation and reality, his work, The Fault in Our Stars, hit the shelves, fulfilling his expectations about his creative abilities. His other works such as, Looking for Alaska, Let it Snow, and, Paper Towns, emphasize ethics, positivity, and guidance, we, as human beings, need in our lives. The recurring thematic strands exhibited in his writings involve the depiction of hope, courage, perseverance, challenges, and nature.
Major Works of John Green
- Best Novels: Some of his major works include Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Will Grayson, Will Grayson, The Fault in Our Stars, and Paper Towns.
- Other Works: Besides writings novels, he tried his hands in other genres, too. Some of them include “The Approximate Cost of Loving Caroline”, “Freak the Geek”, Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, and “The Great American Morp.”
John Green’s Impacts on Future Literature
John Green’s opinions about self-fulfillment and personal happiness have won applause from people across the world. Further readership extension burgeoned by his distinctive writing approach and unique expression. This approach, in fact, sets him apart from his contemporary masters. Many great authors and writers have attributed John Green as their inspiration. His writings also impacted a huge number of teens around the globe. It is stated that his works have inspired and helped thousands through challenging situations like death, love sufferings, and fragility of life that they desire to follow his footsteps in writing.
Famous Quotes
- “Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. (…) You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.” (Looking for Alaska)
- “I am,” he said. He was staring at me, and I could see the corners of his eyes crinkling. “I’m in love with you, and I’m not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I’m in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we’re all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we’ll ever have, and I am in love with you.” (The Fault in Our Stars)
- “Books are the ultimate Dumpees: put them down and they’ll wait for you forever; pay attention to them and they always love you back.” (An Abundance of Katherines Green)