Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection in Science and Inquiry

Mar 23, 2025 CatReader rated it liked it

John Green is an American novelist (probably best known for The Fault in Our Stars) and nonfiction writer. In 2025's Everything is Tuberculosis, Green gives a compelling overview of the current state of tuberculosis (TB) infections and treatment for the lay audience, focusing much of the narrative through a young Sierra Leonean man named Henry Reider battling multi-drug resistant TB infection.

As a medical professional, I do think Green oversimplified the issue -- TB isn't a problem only because ...more

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Feb 21, 2025 GONZA rated it really liked it · review of another edition

John Greens Buch ist völlig anders als alle anderen, die er bisher geschrieben hat, und der Autor erklärt auch seine Gründe dafür. Die Entdeckung einer Krankheit, die er für ausgerottet hielt, seine Bekanntschaft mit Henry, seine eigene Krankengeschichte sind einige der Gründe, die den Autor dazu veranlassten, diesen Essay zu schreiben, in dem die Geschichte der Tuberkulose mit der ihrer berühmtesten Erkrankten und auch mit der von Henry gegenübergestellt wird. Ein schönes Buch, aber sicherlich ...more

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Mar 24, 2025 Cori rated it really liked it

Engaging read about tuberculosis as both an important element of history and today. It highlights the need for access to health care for everyone, as well as the need for foreign aid.

While I enjoyed that this was a quick read, I would have loved more depth to many aspects of this topic. To those who follow John Green, many things already felt familiar. Some of the "fun facts" he has shared on social media, and many of us are familiar with Henry. I'm glad he is using multiple platforms to share ...more

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Apr 05, 2025 David Schwan rated it liked it

Quick history of Tuberculosis, with the second half of the book discussing current treatment of the disease in Sierra Leone. The first half of the book has a bit too much presentation of how TB was a disease of poets and artists. TB kills 1.3 million people a year and while not a major disease in the US, we could see a mutated version (due to drug resistance) surge in the future.

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