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PLOT SUMMARY: Colin Singleton is a child prodoigy who is fearing he will not grow to become an adult prodigy. After being dumped by his girlfriend, Katherine XIX, Colin is looking for his “missing piece,” longing to feel whole, and longing to matter. He hopes to accomplish his goal of becoming a genius by having a “eureka” moment. Over the span of his life, Colin has dated nineteen girls named Katherine, all spelled in that manner. In these relationships, Colin remembers only the Katherine dumping him. After graduating from high school, and before college, Colin's best and only friend, Hassan Harbish, convinces him to go on a road trip with him to take his mind off the breakup. Colin goes along with the idea, hoping to find his “eureka” moment on the way. After driving all the way from Chicago to Tennessee, they come across the alleged resting place of the body of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. There, they meet Lindsey Lee Wells. After a short time, Colin and Hassan find themselves employed by Hollis, Lindsey's mother who runs a local factory that is currently producing tampon strings. They live with their employer and her daughter in a rural town called Gutshot, Tennessee. Colin’s and Hassan’s job is to interview all current adult residents of Gutshot and assemble an oral history of the town. As time passes, Colin finds himself becoming attracted to Lindsey, though matters are somewhat complicated by her on-again, off-again boyfriend Colin (he and Hassan call him TOC, "the other Colin"). Colin is still chasing his eureka moment, finally finding it in his theorem he created called the Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability. It is meant to determine the curve of any relationship based on several factors of the personalities of the two people in a relationship. It would predict the future of any two people. His theorem eventually works for all but one of his past relationships with a Katherine. It is later discovered by Colin that he had dumped this Katherine (Katherine III), rather than the other way around. The graphs all make perfect sense at this juncture. As Colin’s story is revealed to the reader, we find that K-19 was also the first of the Katherines, “Katherine the Great.” While the back stories of Colin’s life play out, Hassan gets a girlfriend, Katrina, a friend of Lindsey’s. The relationship is cut short when Colin and Hassan catch Katrina having sex with TOC while on feral hog hunt with Lindsey, her friends and Colin's father. A fight between TOC and all of the surrounding acquaintances begins when Lindsey finds out that he’s been cheating on her. While recovering from a knee whack to the groin, Colin anagrams the Archduke's name to dull the pain, and realizes that it is actually Lindsey's great-grandfather, named Fred N. Dinzanfar, that is buried in the tomb. Colin finds Lindsey at her secret hideout in a cave that she had shown him previously, where he tells her the story of every Katherine he ever loved. Lindsey tells him that she feels so self-centered, claiming that she does not feel sad but instead slightly relieved by TOC's affair. They discuss what it means to them to “matter” and eventually confess their love for each other. As their relationship continues, Colin decides to use his dating formula to determine whether or not he and Lindsey will last. The graph reveals that they will only last for four more days. Lindsey then slips a note under his door, four days later, stating that she cannot be his girlfriend because she is in love with Hassan. But she leaves a P.S. stating that she is joking. Colin realizes that his theorem cannot predict the future of a relationship. It can only shed light on why a relationship failed. Despite this, Colin is content not “mattering”. Hassan also states that he is applying for two college classes, which Colin has been trying to convince him to do throughout the book. The story ends with the trio driving to a nearby Wendy's. Lindsey states her desire to just "keep going and not stop." Colin takes her advice, as a transcendental and ecstatic feeling of a "connection" with Lindsey, Hassan, and everyone not in the car surges through him. He has finally found peace and happiness via connection with other people, rather than from the pursuit of distinguishing himself from everyone, feeling "non-unique in the very best way possible."

Style and Format:

The novel is written in a third-person narrative. This is so that readers can better empathize and understand Colin, the protagonist. Green states that the story "needed to be written in third person, because it's about a guy whose brain does not lend itself to narratives, and who struggles to tell stories in ways other people find interesting." (JOHN GREEN BOOKS)

The story includes many footnotes that become an essential part to understanding Colin's brain and how it works. Green says that the footnotes "function as a kind of competing narrative that comments upon and—for lack of a better word—problematizes the central narrative." (JOHN GREEN BOOKS) An Abundance of Katherines is a fiction work that includes many mathematical terms and academic language. With the footnotes and The Appendix that is at the end of the novel, Green gives his readers "a way of attempting to achieve precision and clarity" of the story in general, but more specifically, Colin's mind. (JOHN GREEN BOOKS)

The book consists of 19 chapters to highlight the number 19. These chapters include Colin's flashbacks, which are "mean to reflect the relationship between chronological narrative and emotional narrative." (JOHN GREEN BOOKS.) This format is also known as non-linear style.

Main Characters:

Colin Singleton: Colin Singleton is an anagram-loving seventeen-year-old boy who has become depressed because though he has maintained his status of being a child-prodigy, he has not yet become a “genius", although he has an IQ of over 200. Colin finds everything interesting, especially things that other people seem to not care much about. Because of this, it is difficult for people to relate to Colin. After only dating Katherines his whole life, Colin finally breaks the streak by dating Lindsey Lee Wells who he met on his road trip with Hassan. He is in search for his missing piece, as throughout the novel Colin feels as though there is a whole in his stomach, and he is looking to fill it. He is longing for his missing piece, and he is longing to matter. Colin spends his time striving to be unique, but with Lindsey's help, ends up coming to the realization that he is "not-unique in the very best way possible." (AAOK)

Hassan Harbish: Hassan Harbish is Colin's lazy, funny, and a tad overweight best, and only, friend. Hassan is someone who will always tell Colin the truth, especially when it comes to telling him his facts and stories are boring. Though he is smart and has been accepted to college, Hassan took a year off and at first seems as though he does not have any plans on furthering his education; he appears to be a major slacker with no motivation. He convinces Colin to go on a road trip in order to get him out of his depression after breaking up with Katherine. Hassan is Muslim and takes his faith very seriously, being careful not to act on things that go against his religion, until he dates Katrina. It is against the Muslim faith to date someone not of the same faith, but Hassan does it anyway. Hassan is an integral part to Colin's journey of finding his true identity.

Lindsey Wells: Lindsey Lee Wells meets Colin and Hassan on their road trip in Gutshot, Tennesee. She is a paramedic-in-training who also gives tours of Gutshot. When we first meet Lindsey in the novel, she is dating TOC (The Other Colin) which is how she notices that she changes around each person and is never truly herself, until she starts hanging around Colin Singleton. Like Colin, Lindsey seems to be struggling with her identity as well. Inspired by Colin's ability to always be himself, Lindsey is eventually able to act in the same manner and finally becomes herself.

Themes:

Identity: A theme constantly questioned in the novel is "who am I?" Colin is habitually pondering what can give him his unique identity, and what can get him to the point of "mattering." Lindsey is also struggling to find her true identity. Her chameolic personality allows her to fit into any situation with any kind of person, but this also masks who she truly is. Hassan often struggles with whether or not he should go to college, delaying discovering his identity. Together these three characters go on a journey to find themselves together, each finding their identity in different ways.

Memory: Colin is always reflecting on the past. He thinks that reliving his memories will help him with his future, but he finds that over time, one's memory changes and realistically becomes unreliable. Because Colin was so fixated on the past, but his memory actually failed him, his formula did not initially work. He eventually discovers that living in the past hinders him more than it benefits him. It is helpful to reflect on the past, but you cannot grow when you are stuck in what has already happened.

Love: A reader can question whether or not Colin really knows what love is, considering, at first, the only criteria for love seems to be if the girl's name is Katherine. Not only is Colin on a journey to discover who he is, but he is also on a journey to discover what love really is. He finds with Lindsey a love that is not artificially based on a name, but a love that is based on comfort and trust. This is a theme that many young adult readers are able to relate to. Sometimes it takes time to find what you are really looking for.