Everything Is Tuberculosis, John Green
Everything Is Tuberculosis, John Green
7 Rating(s)
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Everything Is Tuberculosis
The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

Bestseller

Author: John Green

Narrator: John Green

Unabridged: 5 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/18/2025

Categories: Nonfiction, Science, Medical


Synopsis

#1 New York Times bestseller • #1 Washington Post bestseller • #1 Indie Bestseller • USA Today Bestseller

John Green, award-winning author and passionate advocate for global healthcare reform, tells a deeply human story illuminating the fight against the world’s deadliest infectious disease.

AN ACCLAIMED BEST BOOK OF 2025: NPR, Scientific American, Science News, Booklist, BookPage, Chicago Sun-Times. Goodreads Readers’ Choice Nonfiction Winner.

Tuberculosis has been entwined with hu­manity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.

In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John be­came fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequi­ties that allow this curable, preventable infec­tious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year.

In Everything Is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world—and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.

About John Green

American author, John Green has followed a completely different career path than he had intended. His plan had been to get his undergraduate degree, then to work towards a Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He spoke about being bullied and how it ruined his teenage years, but also served as assistant chaplain for five months at the Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. After that experience combined with the bullying he suffered, John Green did not go to divinity school, but wrote The Fault in Our Stars. After working with children suffering with life- threatening illnesses, he was inspired to write the novel instead of continuing on the previous path.

The Fault in Our Stars was on the New York Times Best Seller's List for children's books for two weeks, then was made into a major motion picture, using the same name, in June of 2014. Green has the reputation for, "ushering in a new golden Era for contemporary, realistic, literary teen fiction" from a time when young people's books were dominated by young wizards, sparkly vampires, and such. His work is very well-respected by other children's authors......so much so that a John Green endorsement will mean a boost in sales for that author.

Green resides in Indiana with his wife of nine years, Sarah Urist Green. They have two children, Henry and Alice, and a West Highland Terrier named "Willy". His list of books for young people include: Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, Let it Snow: Three Holiday Romances, Paper Towns, Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and The Fault in Our Stars.


Reviews

Goodreads review by liv ❁ on April 24, 2025

Everything is Tuberculosis is a gem in the fact that it is incredibly accessible and interesting while still having incredibly educational, angering material about tuberculosis; a disease which could very feasibly be prevented everywhere right now yet, because of some hand wavy reasons (*cough* gree......more

Goodreads review by ianthereader on April 23, 2025

If John Green writes it, I’m reading it.......more

Goodreads review by Josh on April 14, 2025

Frankly, John, I would read your grocery lists. And apparently your books about Tuberculosis too.......more

Goodreads review by Brady on April 05, 2025

john green personifies tuberculosis and tells the story of this unnecessarily deadly disease through the eyes of our worlds history and a little boy named Henry that you will grow to fall in love with❤️......more

Goodreads review by Nathan on March 19, 2025

Almost the entirety of the book could’ve gone further, could’ve gone deeper. Hopefully the mass attention this book receives will spark the interest in public health’s inextricable links to a capitalist system, of disability theory and rhetoric, and stories of inequality that exist within and beyond......more


Quotes

Earnest and empathetic.” —The New York Times

The real magic of Green’s writing is the deeply considerate, human touch that goes into every word.” —The Associated Press

Told with the intelligence, wit, and tragedy that have become hallmarks of the author’s work.... This is the story of us.” —Slate

“Everything Is Tuberculosis makes an urgent case for the kind of global health initiatives that the U.S. has been turning against. It’s also witty, cogent and achingly beautiful.” —NPR

“In this urgent and compassionate work, John Green shows how this illness is still the world’s deadliest infectious disease, and he does it with sharp reporting and deeply emotional storytelling. His voice resonates with clarity and conviction.” —Scientific American

“Green’s work serves as an important reminder for all people of goodwill what true justice looks like.” —National Catholic Reporter

Everything Is Tuberculosis isn’t about an ancient disease. It’s about what it means to be human, how we understand suffering, how we respond to it, and what happens when we look away.” —Psychology Today

Absolutely fascinating and told masterfully.” —Rebecca Yarros, “What Rebecca Yarros Loved This Year in Culture,” Vulture

An exceptional combination of memoir, medical history and cultural analysis. . . . Memorably probes the intersections of medicine and human emotion.” —BookPage, starred review

“Henry’s story is hopeful and heartbreaking; readers will be rooting for him and his family the whole way through.” —SLJ, starred review

“Green writes expertly of the illness’s history, causes, and cure. . . . Makes what might be inaccessible accessible.” —Booklist, starred review

Green doesn’t romanticize Henry’s story. Instead, he uses it as proof: that TB is curable, that good care works, and that the real question isn’t whether we can save lives—but whether we’re willing to make that care available to everyone.” —Bill Gates, “Gates Notes”

“In these challenging times, the global health community is fortunate to count on Green and his inspiring advocacy.” —The Lancet

A story of hope and tragedy that feels terribly relevant at a time when the global healthcare system is coming under attack.” —The AV Club


Praise for John Green’s
The Anthropocene Reviewed
#1 New York Times Bestseller • #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller • #1 Indie Bestseller • USA Today Bestseller • International Bestseller • Goodreads Choice Nonfiction Book of the Year

“Masterful. A beautiful, timely book about the human condition—and a timeless reminder to pay attention to your attention.” —Adam Grant, #1 bestselling author of Think Again and host of the podcast Re:Thinking
“Essential to the human conversation. John Green whispered the truth of humanity onto the page.” —Library Journal, starred review
“Charming, curious, and heartfelt. Each essay feels like its own adventure on a journey toward understanding our world and humanity’s impact on it.” —NPR, Best Books of the Year