Nonfiction: Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green

Having been a fan of John Green's writing since picking up Paper Towns in 2008, I was more than curious when I received notification of the release of Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection. This is Green's second nonfiction book, after 2021's The Anthropocene Reviewed. This time, Green takes a close look at tuberculosis, going into his fascination with the disease; the people he has met who have worked to cure it, and have lived with it; and what can be done to potentially stop it.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a nonfiction book that is all about tuberculosis: its history, how it has spread, the stigma surrounding it, how its treated, and how it has managed to persist as long as it has. Throughout the book, Green focuses mostly on one person, and that is Henry. Henry is a young man Green met when in Sierra Leone, while visiting the Lakka Government Hospital, where Henry was being treated for TB. After wrongly assuming that Henry was much younger than he was, his small size a result of his body's long fight with the disease, Green becomes interested in Henry and his story, and ultimately, in TB and why the disease has ceased being a large concern in Europe and North America, but in poorer countries is still wreaking havoc. Medicine is helpful, but prevention and complete eradication requires a deeper look at poverty and injustice.

My Verdict: In less than 200 pages, Green lays out a compelling and fascinating narrative about TB that could easily be filled with simple (and boring) facts, figures, and dates. But he relates it all to his own personal experience and the experiences of those he has met, people whose daily realities involve TB and its effects. Green is not a scientist or a doctor, but as an author he is able to convey just how prevalent TB remains to be (and why, and where), retelling the history of an illness that can be treated, and yet many around the world still die from it every year. The book is informative, touching, heartbreaking, but also hopeful, while also providing further reading material, and ways to assist in the fight against TB.

Favorite Chapter: The chapter titled "Virtuous Cycles" offers rays of hope where there seem to be few, highlighting how the fight against TB is not a futile one.

Favorite Quote: "Tuberculosis is so often, and in so many ways, a disease of vicious cycles: It's an illness of poverty that worsens poverty. It's an illness that worsens other illnesses - from HIV to diabetes. It's an illness of weak healthcare systems that weakens healthcare systems. It's an illness of malnutrition that worsens malnutrition. It's an illness of the stigmatized that worsens the stigmatized. In the face of all this, it's easy to despair. TB doesn't just flow through the meandering river of injustice: TB broadens and deepens that river."

Recommended Reading: I recommend Green's The Anthropocene Reviewed, as well as The Icepick Surgeon by Sam Kean.