'Fault In Our Stars' author John Green on his new book
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Why did John Green choose to explore celebrity and the attention economy in Hollywood Ending?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk with Aviva Insurance.
Well, I'm joined now by the number one bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars, John Green, ahead of the release of his new book, Hollywood Ending, on September 22nd. You're very welcome to the show, John. Your book is described as an unflinching examination of celebrity and the insatiable attention economy. What drew you to such subjects?
Well, I've seen some of my books turned into movies. So I've seen the sausage made up close. I think that's part of it. But also these days, we all participate in the attention economy. We're all, you know, taking our private lives and packaging it up for the benefit of social media. And I wanted to explore what that gives us and also what it costs us.
I mean, that was in the Hollywood glamour years. It was sort of the preserve of the stars, but they were very good at keeping parts of themselves back and away. It's much more difficult to navigate that now. And I'm talking about for well-known people, let alone the rest of us.
Right. That's exactly right. I mean, I think, you know, in the book, I write about Andy Warhol a lot because the movie that they're in is an Andy Warhol biopic that the characters are in. And Andy Warhol was able to be very, very famous and also have an entirely private life. Nobody knew who Warhol's partners were during his life and nobody expected to know. And that is very, very different from today. I mean, we've seen celebrity culture evolve so much in 40 years that these days it's almost impossible to keep your private life private.
And do people want to? You know, a lot of people aspire to having a public life.
Yeah. And that's one of the things I wanted to explore in this book.
How does the book compare modern fame to Andy Warhol’s private‑public paradox?
I think at one point, one of the characters says, I don't really want to be famous, but I don't want a lot of what I want. And that complicated exchange of wanting what society wants you to want, which is to be famous, which is to be known and wanting what you actually want. That's something that I've spent a lot of time thinking about because, you know, I also have a public life and I've had to navigate a lot of that myself.
How do you find that navigation? How difficult and tricky is it?
Well, it helps to be a middle-aged dad in Indianapolis, that's for sure. Like when I'm at the middle school volleyball games, nobody particularly cares what I do for a job. But it is still difficult, you know, and there is loss involved, for sure. And I wanted to be honest about that while also being honest about the fact that making art is worth it. you know, there are costs to having a public life, but making stuff is such a wonderful job and such a, even if it's not a job, such a wonderful endeavor. that it's worth it. And that's the ultimate argument I wanted to make, that art is not optional for humans. Art is something we've done from the very beginning, since before there was a cool work surplus.
And it's something that we're going to do until the very
end. I speak to a lot of authors on this program, and many of them will say that they have a real discomfort around the public-facing aspect of the job, that it's quite one thing to sit and write your book and create your art. And it's always been difficult to go out and sell that. But now... your publisher will want you to have a very significant, if possible, social media presence. And that is a really uncomfortable place for a lot of very private people to be.
Yeah, it is weird. I mean... the job is essentially to sit alone in your basement 12 hours a day. And then the job is to not have any time in your basement and spend all of your time on social media and traveling and talking to readers. And those are almost opposite jobs. And very few people are good at both of them. I certainly don't feel like I'm particularly good at both of them, but I understand that that's the world we live in.
What does John say about the personal cost of a public life versus the joy of creating art?
I, I'm highly critical of that world in the book because I think that it has become a destructive force in the social order. I mean, you just need to look at the political discourse in the United States to know that it's a destructive force in the social order.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why did John Green choose to explore celebrity and the attention economy in Hollywood Ending?
0:01–1:45
2
How does the book compare modern fame to Andy Warhol’s private‑public paradox?
1:45–3:53
3
What does John say about the personal cost of a public life versus the joy of creating art?
3:53–6:04
4
Why does Green argue that social‑media platforms are a destructive force for society?
6:04–7:47
5
How did writing for adults change John’s process after a decade of YA fiction?
7:47–10:28
6
What hope does John hold for America despite book bans and cultural backlash?
10:28–12:13
7
How did the massive success of The Fault in Our Stars affect John’s view of storytelling?
12:13–14:30
8
What is John’s stance on author involvement in movie adaptations of his novels?
14:30–15:50