Paper Towns is written from the perspective of an intelligent and computer-literate male teenager. The language and meaning of the book reflects the pieces of media that he would encounter in the early 21st century in the United States. In short, this means that Quentin is not wholly averse to complex vocabulary but also uses a variety of internet slang terms. Further, he often refers to ideas that he derives from his therapist parents and from his high school reading of various classic books and poems such as Moby Dick and Song of Myself. The form of the book also somewhat reflects these variations, as the book will on occasion include long quotations from important poems and even transcripts from Quentin's IM conversations with Ben, Radar, and Lacey.