Colin Singleton has issues with his life. Mainly that he doesn’t understand it, and as a recent high school graduate, is sure of little other than his status as a failure. Utterly disgusted with his best friend’s state of mind, Hassan decides what they needs is a road trip. After somehow making their parents agree, off the head, no destination in mind.

A random highway exit boasts the grave of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who Colin had been thinking of not long before, and so begins the journey to Gutshot, TN, where the road trip becomes stationary.

After the tour to the Archduke’s grave, Colin and Hassan meet Hollis, their tourguide Lindey’s mother, who brings them home for dinner and offers them a job for the summer. At $500/week, the pair can’t refuse.

The days soon settle into a sort of rhythm. Recording oral histories of Gutshot for Hollis in the morning, killing time in the afternoon while Lindsey goofs off with her boyfriend, and for Colin, working on the Theorem he’s come up with to predict the pattern of a relationship. First he can only get it to work for a few of the Katherines. With some tweaking, it works for all but one. After further delving, he realizes he’s misremembered this one, and once he adjusts the formula to show the true events, the Theorem is rock solid.

And yet…while History is easy to study (like they say, hind-sight is 20/20), the future is a different animal altogehter. And this is the realization Colin really needs to come to. That life can’t be predicted, there is no certainty, and the only sure thing to do is to get out there and try.

Excellent book. Unique story, great characters, much lighter than Looking for Alaska. Definitely worth a read.