Looking for Alaska by John Green: 9780525556541 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

Author Q&A

Q&A with author John Green

Did you pull off any pranks in high school? If so, what is the most memorable?
A lot of brilliant pranks were pulled during my time at boarding school, but I wasn’t involved in most of them. My greatest personal pranking accomplishment probably came in the spring of my sophomore year. Amidst an epic prank war, my roommate and I borrowed an enemy senior’s car and parallel parked it in such a way that it blocked the entrance to the school, making it impossible for anyone to drive on or off of campus. While I don’t recommend this course of action to anyone, I’ll say this: Algebra II was canceled that morning.

Favorite last words?
In the dying wittily category, I have to pick Oscar Wilde. Dying in a garishly decorated hotel room, Wilde said, “Either this wallpaper goes—or I do.” But for beauty, I sure like Emily Dickinson’s. “I must go in,” she said. “The fog is rising.”