Most novelists don’t stop their award-winning young adult novel writing to take a deep dive into tuberculosis and write a brief history/explorative case study on it. Then again, most writers aren’t John Green. In his recently published nonfiction work, “Everything Is Tuberculosis,” Green reintroduces his readers to tuberculosis, its weight on human history and the people who bear the brunt of its inequities.
Green, whose work has been published in more than 55 languages has over 24 million copies in print, is known for his young adult novels that explore adolescence and finding one’s place in the world. He’s begun a recent transition to nonfiction works after his previous “The Anthropocene Reviewed” came out in 2021, a series of personal essays reflecting on COVID-19, Post-it notes and our changing world.
Green’s work, whether novels, personal essays or appearances on Crash Course, focuses on empathy and bringing awareness to highly stigmatized issues, which makes his most recent book, “Everything Is Tuberculosis,” a story he’s especially skilled at telling.
The book starts with a story about a TB victim, then dives deep into how the disease and the healthcare inequities surrounding it affect almost every facet of modern existence. The seed is Henry Reider, a boy from Sierra Leone who has a bubbly personality, a sparkling wit and a severe case of antibiotic-resistant TB. The book moves from the case of Henry to an exploration of healthcare in post-colonial countries such as Sierra Leone and the systems designed by imperialist nations that keep TB spreading.
“Everything Is Tuberculosis” then shifts into the history of the disease in the West, starting with the romanticization of TB and the complex journey to find a cure. Green revisits Reider’s case throughout the book, displaying the long-term effects of systemic racism and colonization through Reider’s time spent at Lakka Hospital in Sierra Leone.
I’ve always been a huge fan of Green’s writing and have recently dived into the world of infectious disease books, so “Everything is Tuberculosis” came onto my shelf at the perfect time. Green’s skill of tying together seemingly unrelated subjects and painting a dark yet hopeful picture of the world rings clearly throughout the book, making a complex disease and healthcare history digestible to a wide range of audiences.
The accessibility of his language makes it a pristine example of equitable science writing, as he writes accurate information as a non-scientist for non-scientists, for those interested in infection without a degree in epidemiology. While its accessibility is a highlight for me, those more familiar with tuberculosis and systemic healthcare problems may find the book to be too brief and surface-level. The book covers a large range of topics in less than 200 pages, and those looking for a stronger supplement to their education should only use this book as a starting point, not an encyclopedia.
As someone who has proudly read almost every John Green Book — I’m still working through “The Anthropocene Reviewed” — his strong voice has always been a highlight of everything he publishes. Yet, I found “Everything Is Tuberculosis” surprising in how his voice almost worked against him. I appreciated his perspective on OCD and found his thoughts on injustices around the world to be an important grounder in abstract or dense sections. But at points, his perspective and thoughts overshadowed that of the book’s focus — those affected by TB.
Green hailed Reider as a poet, a beacon of joy and a survivor, yet failed to share more than a few of his poems and first-hand musings on the world. I don’t think the book could hold its own as a Green work without the strong voice, and I did enjoy Green’s comments, but I find myself seeking a longer work that contained more of Reider’s poems and life alongside Green’s. Although I would’ve preferred the aforementioned, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and this small flaw didn’t inhibit Green’s attention to detail and amplification of traditionally underrepresented communities within the Western narrative of healthcare.
“Everything Is Tuberculosis” sets out to shine a light on the systemic issues, particularly the racism deeply embedded in world healthcare, and the systemic injustices that choose who lives and who dies. I appreciated the wide range of subjects Green covered and his evidence that everything truly is tuberculosis.
“Everything Is Tuberculosis” is keeping me excited for future deep dives into the different caves that Green finds himself exploring. I would recommend this book to anyone curious about infections, history, systemic injustices and healthcare, or anyone who is simply interested in people. Green flaunts his skills in research and storytelling throughout “Everything Is Tuberculosis,” the perfect science read for any audience.