Who Is The Fault in Our Stars Author John Green, and Why Do So Many People Love Him?

 

NASHVILLE, TN - MAY 08: John Green attends "The Fault In Our Stars" Nashville red carpet and fan event with Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff and John Green at Nashville War Memorial Auditorium on May 8, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Allied)

• By Jennifer Vineyard - Vulture

At BookCon this past weekend, some 2,000 fans showed up to scream for author John Green. Even more enthusiasts showed up to scream even louder at the New York premiere of The Fault in Our Stars, where the sidewalk around the Ziegfeld Theater was clogged with fans desperate to see, talk, and touch the mild-mannered Green. Star Shailene Woodley got her share of screams, too, but the volume and intensity reached a fever pitch when John and his brother Hank walked down a line of fans wearing cerulean-colored shirts emblazoned with Fault's catch phrase — "Okay?" "Okay." — this world's equivalent of Ghost's "Ditto." Why would the brothers Green be the main attraction at a movie premiere? What, you might ask, is going on here? And what's with all the weird hand gestures these folks are making?

Green is no ordinary YA book author, for starters. His popularity in both book sales and on the internet surpasses any of his peers, to the point where publishing observers (and  some detractors) have called his impact and influence the "John Green Effect." (He has written several other novels, including 2005's Looking for Alaska and 2008's Paper Towns.) His internet footprint is huge — some 2 million followers on Twitter, another 2 million on his and his brother's YouTube channel, Vlogbrothers, and nearly another 2 million for his online Crash Course tutorial series (again, with his brother). No wonder this man was named one of Time's 100 most influential people of the year. Among his famous fans are President Barack Obama, actor Benedict Cumberbatch, and Olympic gymnast Jennifer Pinches — all of whom have publicly repeated Green's motto, "Don't forget to be awesome" (or "D.F.T.B.A."), or given the not-so-secret wrists-crossed Nerdfighter salute, or imitated the author's pose in a photograph.
More