Warning: The open letter is full of spoilers. If you haven’t read the book, be warned.
Dear John Green,
Darn you. Darn you for writing a book that made me cry out loud.
Darn you for writing a book that kept my behind stuck in the chair on a day off when I should have been cleaning, so when the neighbor came over to give me his garden fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, he had to look away from the sight of my entryway.
Darn you for writing the things about the Battle and the Fight against cancer which is a part of our own bodies. I have been thinking those things since my dad died “when the cancer, which was made of him, finally stopped his heart, which was also made of him.” I could not find the words that you did through Hazel.
Darn you for writing a book so true that now I must miss Hazel and Augustus, too.
Darn you for your brilliance, courage and humanity that you are able to use so well.
Darn you for getting me to care so much about a story that my heart aches.
Darn you. Having this as a library book won’t be enough. I’ll need to buy it.
And darn you for becoming so deservedly popular that you don’t answer your mail. Not even from your mother. If I sent this to you directly, it would only end up in a slush pile like Van Houten’s. Darn you for that, too.
In reality, you can substitute ‘thank’ for all the ‘darns’ in this letter. But, honestly, as I stood stunned in my kitchen after Augustus died, I first thought, “D*#% you.” You left a scar with this book, Mr. Green. It’s not a scar I regret having. I like my choice to read your book. But that scar is deep, and it is still tender.
Most Sincerely,
Karrie
