EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS by JOHN GREEN
John Green, well-known author of Paper Towns, The Fault in Our Stars, and Anthropocene Reviewed, is back with another epic book about, of all things, tuberculosis. This book has the same feel as his last book, Anthropocene Reviewed, but instead of being a book of essays on a variety of different topics, this one is a deep dive into one very specific topic. If you haven’t given much thought to tuberculosis in the past (because why would you think about a disease that we think of as basically cured?), I can assure you that, after you read this book, you will think of nothing else for quite a while.
Everything is Tuberculosis is a sweeping narrative that spans the history of tuberculosis. John Green cleverly lays out the impact that tuberculosis has had on different aspects of society – everything from New Mexico becoming a state to how The Beatles became The Beatles.
I was moved by how John Green weaves in the story of Henry, a young boy from Sierra Leone dealing with drug-resistant-tuberculosis, throughout the book – making the story both personal and placing it within the context of human lives and how wealth inequality makes eradicating tuberculosis more challenging.
Everything is Tuberculosis is, at its heart, a book about marginalized people. The most vulnerable in society are affected by something that has been curable for longer than I’ve been alive. This book is well-researched and packs an emotional punch. I highly recommend it.