An Abundance of Katherines Summary

As a young genius, Colin excelled in languages and was a familiar presence on quiz television shows. He had an uncanny knack for creating anagrams. Despite being intelligent, Colin grapples with depression after his girlfriend, Katherine, breaks up with him upon high school graduation. His anxiety about his future and not fulfilling his potential is apparent. His best friend, Hassan, encourages Colin to go on a road trip that leads them from Chicago to a small Tennessee town. Here they meet Lindsey, a socially smart and friendly girl whose mother runs the sole factory in town.

Colin and Hassan are employed by Lindsey's mother, Hollis, to interview the factory workers in order to craft an oral history of the town. At the same time, Colin is privately working on a mathematical project hoping to predict the lifespan and outcome of any romantic relationship, using his past experiences with his 19 ex-girlfriends, all named Katherine, as data points. Colin's last girlfriend, Katherine, was also his first love, and he attempts fruitlessly to rekindle their relationship over the phone.

Parallelly, Hassan explores the town, makes friends, and strikes up a relationship with Lindsey's friend, Katrina. An invitation to a wild pig hunt sees Colin participating reluctantly and it is during this hunt that Katrina is discovered being unfaithful. This leads to a brawl, during which Colin and Lindsey find out about Hollis's plans to sell off her land and uncover the secret disposal of unsold tampon strings produced by her factory. In the end, Colin learns that his memory can be flawed, evidenced by his incorrect memory of his relationship with Katherine number three. His mathematical formula also faults as it fails to predict his own relationship with Lindsey. In the end, Colin acknowledges that he is not unique and his future is as uncertain as everyone else's.