What do you think about Peter Van Houten, the fictional author of An Imperial Affliction? This book's real author, John Green, has said that Van Houten is a "horrible, horrible person but I have an affection for him." Why might Green have said that? What

Peter Van Houten is the American author of a fictional novel An Imperial Affliction that exists within The Fault in Our Stars. He is a witty, mean older man and an alcoholic, nothing like Hazel had imagined when reading the book so many times. Van Houten keeps up a correspondence with Gus that leads to Gus and Hazel visiting him in Amsterdam, though the visit is largely unsuccessful. However, Van Houten attends Gus's funeral in America and attempts to apologize to Hazel, whereupon she realizes that he had a young daughter who died of leukemia.

I considered the honesty with which he had written about cancer kids; the fact that he couldn't speak to me in Amsterdam except to ask if I'd dressed like her on purpose; his s***tiness around me and Augustus; his aching question about the relationship between pain's extremity and its value…