Teaser Tuesday: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia of The Purple Booker.
To play along just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green.

An Absolutely
Remarkable Thing – Dutton

It is amazing how disconcerting a single vile, manipulative person can be even if you have never and (hopefully) will never see them. The power that each of us has over complete strangers to make them feel terrible and frightened and weak is amazing.
— Chapter 3

This dumb little moment was the first time I heard a stranger hating me in public. I knew then, for real, that thousands of people were having that exact conversation all over the world every moment of every day. Those people were real, and their thoughts were formed by overblown or just straight made-up stories about me that I could never adequately defend myself against.
— Chapter 12

This book has been for several reasons sort of haunting me for the past couple of months and I’m now absurdly happy that it’s finally out and people get to read it because for a lack of a better descriptor it is absolutely remarkable. And I promise that is the last time I’m going to use that descriptor because it is possibly more than a little cheesy.
This book is wonderful on so many levels because there are so many things to take away from it in as many readings as you like. On the surface level, it’s a purely enjoyable piece of speculative fiction that will keep you guessing what is going on and how all of the strings tie together. And then there are all the social and psychological aspects that open up if you want them to. If you’ve read the book you’ll know what I mean when I say that I was especially hooked by the idea that initial fame n the one hand transforms itself you but also transforms itself if you keep on feeding until it becomes its own entity that is most definitely able to destroy you.
Another aspect is maybe very obvious, but nevertheless not less important because of it. This idea of othering that which is different or rather making a deal of that which is other and instead of being open to learn and explore to react with suspicion and hate. This is very obviously not hidden in most cases. I love how clear this book is on this message while also not badgering you about it. I like to think of it as offering the tools and details to make an informed decision first in the fictional world and then maybe transfer the findings to the real world. Because while there are (not yet) giant sculptures standing in major cities around the globe there are enough groups and individuals that are scarily reminiscent of those Defenders. And what this fanaticism can lead to becomes glaringly, painfully obvious by the end of the book.
The end itself is a sort of cliffhanger, so there is going to be a second book (triple cheer for that), which I am quite happy about because while this is a debut it’s an incredibly well-crafted one and the author clearly displays a high talent for storytelling, which I’m looking forward to exploring in his further writings.

I get to see Hank for his book tour in Boston tomorrow (no, I’m not usually able to cross the pond for a book launch so this is especially exciting). Which author have you travelled to see live or seen live in general? Share your experiences and teasers in the comments!