05. The Looking for Alaska Movie, Davos, and Hufflepuff Shade.
Good morning, Hank! It's Tuesday, and in a stirring turn of events I find myself in an airport. I'm on my way to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum which is a gathering of like world leaders and CEOs and Leonardo DiCaprio and I guess... me? to discuss the future of the world's economy. I'm not even there yet and I already feel a little out of place BUT Davos, Switzerland was also the setting of one of my all-time favorite novels The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann so while I'm there I get to do a bit of literary tourism which, as you know, Hank, is one of my three favorite hobbies. My favorite hobbies, of course, being: eating pizza, sponsoring 4th tier soccer teams and literary tourism.
Anyway, Hank, you can follow my trip to Davos on my Twitter or Instagram or SnapChat I don't actually know how to log on to my SnapChat but I'm going to try to figure it out! All of that, however, is an aside because it's Tuesday! It's Question Tuesday the day that I answer real questions from real Nerdfighters. Let's belatedly get right to it! ● How's the writing going? I think it's going well, I'm sorry it's taking so long. ● Hey, what's going to be the title of your new book? I don't know, you got any ideas? I'm definitely in the market for a good title so if you have one leave it in comments! ● What is your opinion of inside jokes?
*Joyful shouting by the Cheez Doodles Guy*
● Who are you going to vote for presi-…
Nononono I am not paying attention to the so-called "Presidential Election" until 100 days before the primary in my home state of Indiana. Which means I have a few more blessed days not to think about it and I am going to enjoy them.
● Will you be my friend even though I'm a Slytherin? Yeah sure! Hufflepuffs are kind and caring and open... Unlike some people I know...
● Can you six degrees of Kevin Bacon yourself?
Yeah! I acted in The Fault in Our Stars movie. Admittedly, my scene was cut but it was in the extended version! I acted with Laura Dern who was in Novocaine with Kevin Bacon.
● How should a dog wear pants?
When it comes to dogs with pants, I stand with the president.
● At this point do presidential debates actually accomplish what they're supposed to accomplish? Well, as far as I can tell at this point, what they're supposed to accomplish is selling lots of extra expensive advertising on Cable news networks. In which case, yeah - they're very effective! ● How do you think the world will end?
Well, I've got a list of my top ten eschatological anxieties but in the end I'm with T.S. Eliot on this one:
"Not with a bang but with a whimper." ● When is Looking for Alaska gonna be made into a movie?
Uhhhhhh.... I don't know. Maybe never? I sold the movie rights to a movie studio more than ten years ago and I have tried many, many, many times to buy them back in the intervening decade. But thus far that hasn't happened. They tried to make a movie a bunch of times but it's always fallen apart for one reason or another. And at this point, uh... I'm not involved in the project in any way. I'm not gonna lie, it definitely bums me out but it also reminds me just how lucky I was to have two amazing book-to-movie experiences. The truth is authors are almost never as welcomed into the process as I was with The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns. So... I try just to be grateful for that. So if you don't hear Looking for Alaska movie updates from me that's why. Uhh... maybe that will change some day - I hope so! But, uh, I don't expect so. ● Any plans to come back to Crash Course?
Yes! This summer we're gonna do another mini-series of Crash Course: Literature. We're gonna read Huckleberry Finn and Invisible Man and One Hundred Years of Solitude and Their Eyes Were Watching God and some Shakespearean sonnets. It's gonna be AMAZING! ● Who's your celebrity crush? Right now I'd definitely say Lin Manuel Miranda ● Is there a smell that is important to you and brings you back to a particular time in your life?
Yeah there's an odor of like spray smell called "Spring Rain" that brings me back to high school because it's what my roommate and I always used to cover up the smell of cigarette smoke. Obviously, don't smoke. It's a tremendous waste of time and money but that Spring Rain odor brings me right back to high school. It's like this horrific, horrific scent but it only makes me feel happy. Alright, Hank, I have to go board the plane. Next week, I'll give you some thoughts from Davos. In the meantime, I will see you on Friday!
