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Everything Is Tuberculosis
John Green, the #1 bestselling author of The Anthropocene Reviewed and a passionate advocate for global healthcare reform, tells a deeply human story illuminating the fight against the world’s deadliest disease.
Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.
In 2019, John Green met Henry, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone while traveling with Partners in Health. 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 and dynamic advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequities that allow this curable, treatable infectious disease to also be the deadliest, killing 1.5 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.
Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.
In 2019, John Green met Henry, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone while traveling with Partners in Health. 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 and dynamic advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequities that allow this curable, treatable infectious disease to also be the deadliest, killing 1.5 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.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published March 18, 2025
5,934 people are currently reading
96.9k people want to read
About the author
John Green
70books311kfollowersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the ŷ database with this name.
John Green's first novel, Looking for Alaska, won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award presented by the American Library Association. His second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, was a 2007 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His next novel, Paper Towns, is a New York Times bestseller and won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best YA Mystery. In January 2012, his most recent novel, The Fault in Our Stars, was met with wide critical acclaim, unprecedented in Green's career. The praise included rave reviews in Time Magazine and The New York Times, on NPR, and from award-winning author Markus Zusak. The book also topped the New York Times Children's Paperback Bestseller list for several weeks. Green has also coauthored a book with David Levithan called Will Grayson, Will Grayson, published in 2010. The film rights for all his books, with the exception of Will Grayson Will Grayson, have been optioned to major Hollywood Studios.
In 2007, John and his brother Hank were the hosts of a popular internet blog, "," where they discussed their lives, books and current events every day for a year except for weekends and holidays. They still keep a video blog, now called "The Vlog Brothers," which can be found on the website, or a direct link .
John Green's first novel, Looking for Alaska, won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award presented by the American Library Association. His second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, was a 2007 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His next novel, Paper Towns, is a New York Times bestseller and won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best YA Mystery. In January 2012, his most recent novel, The Fault in Our Stars, was met with wide critical acclaim, unprecedented in Green's career. The praise included rave reviews in Time Magazine and The New York Times, on NPR, and from award-winning author Markus Zusak. The book also topped the New York Times Children's Paperback Bestseller list for several weeks. Green has also coauthored a book with David Levithan called Will Grayson, Will Grayson, published in 2010. The film rights for all his books, with the exception of Will Grayson Will Grayson, have been optioned to major Hollywood Studios.
In 2007, John and his brother Hank were the hosts of a popular internet blog, "," where they discussed their lives, books and current events every day for a year except for weekends and holidays. They still keep a video blog, now called "The Vlog Brothers," which can be found on the website, or a direct link .
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,033 reviews
Want to read
October 25, 2024I see John Green has finally written the book of his dreams
Read
March 26, 2025If John Green writes it, I’m reading it.
Want to read
October 22, 2024This is the most John Green thing I’ve ever seen.
Read
October 29, 2024Yesterday, John was doing a livestream, signing copies of his book. While he was doing it, he was also talking to people in the chat. I asked him if he ever reads the reviews of his books here on ŷ. He replied that he does, although he knows it's not the best thing for his mental health because the mean reviews stick with him much more than the good ones do.
I'm not a famous author, but I can imagine that one of the most difficult parts of the job is resisting the temptation to look up your name on Google every day and then spend hours spiraling into bad thoughts because of the mean things people say (anonymously) about you on the internet.
John, I know you're probably never going to read this, but on the off chance that your intrusive thoughts won today and you find yourself reading reviews of your books, I just want to let you know that your books kept me company through many dark moments in my life. I am incredibly grateful to be alive at the same time as you and to experience your amazing projects like Crash Course, Vlogbrothers, and Dear Hank and John (or, as you prefer to think of it: Dear John and Hank). Now, stop doomscrolling and go do something that makes you feel happy to be alive—you deserve it.
DFTBA!
I'm not a famous author, but I can imagine that one of the most difficult parts of the job is resisting the temptation to look up your name on Google every day and then spend hours spiraling into bad thoughts because of the mean things people say (anonymously) about you on the internet.
John, I know you're probably never going to read this, but on the off chance that your intrusive thoughts won today and you find yourself reading reviews of your books, I just want to let you know that your books kept me company through many dark moments in my life. I am incredibly grateful to be alive at the same time as you and to experience your amazing projects like Crash Course, Vlogbrothers, and Dear Hank and John (or, as you prefer to think of it: Dear John and Hank). Now, stop doomscrolling and go do something that makes you feel happy to be alive—you deserve it.
DFTBA!
Want to read
October 22, 2024Frankly, John, I would read your grocery lists.
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 borders we’ve created out of the desperate need for power.
Read
March 18, 2025yeah the pharmaceutical industry can eff off
Want to read
March 16, 2025*I am counting down 🧘🧘🧘
*The author of my fav movie (the fault in our stars)gonna give birth to a new book 💃💃💃💃😙
*The author of my fav movie (the fault in our stars)gonna give birth to a new book 💃💃💃💃😙
Want to read
March 12, 2025UPDATE: I am going to the kickoff of his book tour in Indianapolis on the 15th at 6pm! If you see me come say hi :)
John Green may be the only human on planet Earth who could convince me to read an entire book about tuberculosis, and certainly the only human who could convince me to pre-order a signed copy.
Highly anticipated non-fiction for 2025, and will likely end up on my favorites of the year list.
John Green may be the only human on planet Earth who could convince me to read an entire book about tuberculosis, and certainly the only human who could convince me to pre-order a signed copy.
Highly anticipated non-fiction for 2025, and will likely end up on my favorites of the year list.
February 24, 2025
Quick question for you, dear reader. Do you know why so often a character coughing into a rag is ominous especially when there ends up being blood? (Think Doc Holliday in Tombstone) That is because the character has tuberculosis and the end is near. Yes, it is a cliche. And it is a cliche because tuberculosis is the deadliest infection in human history and is still killing people to this day. Yes, we do have a cure. Yes, it is still killing people. This is what John Green wants to talk to us about in his book, Everything is Tuberculosis.
Green is ultimately trying to start a conversation with this book. It is not long (less than 200 pages) and there are many ideas and facts highlighted but not beaten into the ground. Mainly, Green tells the story of Henry, a young man he met in Sierra Leone who is battling tuberculosis. His outlook is murky because the care he needs is not readily available. Through his story, Green is able to illuminate the reader on the shame, isolation, and hopelessness that often follows a TB diagnosis in areas without adequate healthcare.
I had a long talk about the book with Lady History Nerd (trademark pending). We went back and forth about what do we do with the information that is in the book. Do we donate to a TB charity? Do we write a congressman? Picket a pharma company? We realized (after a long talk because we are both stubborn, but she gave the vast majority of dismissive looks) that Green wasn't trying to answer any of those questions. He just wanted us to ask them. We have to take it from there.
I think this book will be most effective for people who don't realize the destructive power of TB throughout the years. History nerds will recognize the awful disease and already know how terrible it has been to humans for thousands of years (yes, thousands). But no matter what, everyone will have a lot to think about by the time they put this one down.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Crash Course Books.)
Green is ultimately trying to start a conversation with this book. It is not long (less than 200 pages) and there are many ideas and facts highlighted but not beaten into the ground. Mainly, Green tells the story of Henry, a young man he met in Sierra Leone who is battling tuberculosis. His outlook is murky because the care he needs is not readily available. Through his story, Green is able to illuminate the reader on the shame, isolation, and hopelessness that often follows a TB diagnosis in areas without adequate healthcare.
I had a long talk about the book with Lady History Nerd (trademark pending). We went back and forth about what do we do with the information that is in the book. Do we donate to a TB charity? Do we write a congressman? Picket a pharma company? We realized (after a long talk because we are both stubborn, but she gave the vast majority of dismissive looks) that Green wasn't trying to answer any of those questions. He just wanted us to ask them. We have to take it from there.
I think this book will be most effective for people who don't realize the destructive power of TB throughout the years. History nerds will recognize the awful disease and already know how terrible it has been to humans for thousands of years (yes, thousands). But no matter what, everyone will have a lot to think about by the time they put this one down.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Crash Course Books.)
Want to read
October 24, 2024wait this is going to eat
March 6, 2025
Y’all. Everything really IS tuberculosis
March 20, 2025
Another day, another hundred reasons to be furious at the government and pharmaceutical industry
February 14, 2025
If two years ago you would’ve recommended I read a nonfiction book about the topic of tuberculosis, I would have given you side eye. But here I am in 2025 not only reading a book about it, but also telling you that it is an incredibly engaging and accessible read. I think the only person who could’ve enticed me to read a book about this topic is John Green� because his books are always so human and thought provoking. He doesn’t dare you or shame you to think hard about things or talk down to you; he just writes in a way that makes you want to be better and smarter about the world. And so he approaches this topic from a humanities lens rather than a science one. He shows the ways in which this disease has been “a failure of our social order, an invasion of injustice.� You see, we have the power to eradicate TB around the world. We just choose not to because the people that TB primarily afflicts are from low income countries.
So John Green set out to put a human face on this global problem. He tells the story of Henry, a boy he meets at a hospital in Sierra Leone that he immediately connects with because he has a son named Henry and he assumes they are the same age due to his “spindly legs and a big, goofy smile.�
As Green tells the story of the societal factors that once made it “fashionable� to have TB, to becoming mostly a disease of poverty, Green always comes back to Henry’s story, to ground his narrative in the present-day.
I encourage everyone who cares about public health to pick up this humanizing narrative. And as you can see here, it is a short read, coming in at only 198 pages. When the Penguin booth at ALA was handing them out I even asked if this was just a sampler because I was so surprised it was so short. But by the time you get to the last page, you’ll wish it was longer, not because the book feels incomplete, but because it’s such an engaging and important read.
And because so many of my friends are teachers and librarians, I absolutely wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this book to middle and high school readers. If they like John Green’s YA novels, they’ll enjoy this book.
So John Green set out to put a human face on this global problem. He tells the story of Henry, a boy he meets at a hospital in Sierra Leone that he immediately connects with because he has a son named Henry and he assumes they are the same age due to his “spindly legs and a big, goofy smile.�
As Green tells the story of the societal factors that once made it “fashionable� to have TB, to becoming mostly a disease of poverty, Green always comes back to Henry’s story, to ground his narrative in the present-day.
I encourage everyone who cares about public health to pick up this humanizing narrative. And as you can see here, it is a short read, coming in at only 198 pages. When the Penguin booth at ALA was handing them out I even asked if this was just a sampler because I was so surprised it was so short. But by the time you get to the last page, you’ll wish it was longer, not because the book feels incomplete, but because it’s such an engaging and important read.
And because so many of my friends are teachers and librarians, I absolutely wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this book to middle and high school readers. If they like John Green’s YA novels, they’ll enjoy this book.
Want to read
October 22, 2024only john green could make me so excited for a book about tuberculosis and absolutely certain that i will be crying tears of hope and have a restored faith in humanity by the end of it
March 30, 2025
This is a perfect nonfiction book for people who do not read nonfiction. It covers a lot of ground and is very easy and accessible. For me, this book was way too surface and lacked the authority of an expert and felt more like a person reciting facts they learned on a topic they're obsessed with (which Green basically admits is what is going on here).
March 21, 2025
Somewhere between a 3 and 4.
I was very hesitant to read this. As an epidemiologist, reading a book about an infectious disease by someone who honestly just doesn’t have the expertise is a bit of a head scratcher.
If there’s one thing I took away from this book is that John Green cares so much and tried so hard to be cultural appropriate and avoid stigmatizing perspectives. I am struggling a bit with intent vs execution.
I had two major problems with this book.
1. I wanted him to further expand on white man savior syndrome and the impact ministry and mission work has on his perspective - especially when it comes to foreign aid.
2. He toes the line of historian and scientist many times. I think, while John Green has proven he is dedicated to putting in the work, he is not a scientist and this must be acknowledged.
Where this book really did amazing was its discussion of the moral quandary of disease. I think this was the absolute best thought out and laid out part. Disease, no matter what shape or form, is somehow placed on the person and the stigma that comes with that is a lot. He used great examples (cancer, HIV, and his own experience with OCD).
Finally, John Green used a person who had TB who he knows throughout the story to bring a personal and human experience at every turn of the story. As an epi, stats are more than numbers, they are real people and tho I think at times I didn’t love how he handled it, using Henry to ground the book was a genius move.
I was very hesitant to read this. As an epidemiologist, reading a book about an infectious disease by someone who honestly just doesn’t have the expertise is a bit of a head scratcher.
If there’s one thing I took away from this book is that John Green cares so much and tried so hard to be cultural appropriate and avoid stigmatizing perspectives. I am struggling a bit with intent vs execution.
I had two major problems with this book.
1. I wanted him to further expand on white man savior syndrome and the impact ministry and mission work has on his perspective - especially when it comes to foreign aid.
2. He toes the line of historian and scientist many times. I think, while John Green has proven he is dedicated to putting in the work, he is not a scientist and this must be acknowledged.
Where this book really did amazing was its discussion of the moral quandary of disease. I think this was the absolute best thought out and laid out part. Disease, no matter what shape or form, is somehow placed on the person and the stigma that comes with that is a lot. He used great examples (cancer, HIV, and his own experience with OCD).
Finally, John Green used a person who had TB who he knows throughout the story to bring a personal and human experience at every turn of the story. As an epi, stats are more than numbers, they are real people and tho I think at times I didn’t love how he handled it, using Henry to ground the book was a genius move.
Want to read
October 22, 2024Wake up, babes—a new John Green book is here!
February 18, 2025
Leave it to John Green to write an entire book on a topic I've never been interested in yet still have me riveted by the end of the first page. Everything is Tuberculosis is a fascinating and comprehensive exploration of the world's deadliest, yet curable, disease. It's a history lesson, a call to action, and an ode to humanity that will pull at your heartstrings. READ IT!
March 27, 2025
4.5/5
The world we share is a product of all the worlds we used to share. For me at least, the history and present of tuberculosis reveal the folly and brilliance and cruelty and compassion of humans.
What an absolutely phenomenal book. Green writes with such passion about the subject that you can feel it fill every page. This is such a fascinating, informative, heart-breaking and hopeful book. With a mixture of history, present and future, everything really is tuberculosis.
I think Green's novel writing is a great aid to this book as his prose makes it very engaging and emotional. He approaches every chapter both thoroughly and empathetically; it is neither a dry textbook nor a resourceless post. It expertly combines fact and emotion, anger and compassion, despair and hope. It's a brilliant read that I could not put down for a moment and found incredibly eye-opening. I am immensely grateful to have read it and I could not recommend it more!
We must also address the root cause of tuberculosis, which is injustice. In a world where everyone can eat, and access healthcare, and be treated humanely, tuberculosis has no chance. Ultimately, we are the cause.
We must also be the cure.
The world we share is a product of all the worlds we used to share. For me at least, the history and present of tuberculosis reveal the folly and brilliance and cruelty and compassion of humans.
What an absolutely phenomenal book. Green writes with such passion about the subject that you can feel it fill every page. This is such a fascinating, informative, heart-breaking and hopeful book. With a mixture of history, present and future, everything really is tuberculosis.
I think Green's novel writing is a great aid to this book as his prose makes it very engaging and emotional. He approaches every chapter both thoroughly and empathetically; it is neither a dry textbook nor a resourceless post. It expertly combines fact and emotion, anger and compassion, despair and hope. It's a brilliant read that I could not put down for a moment and found incredibly eye-opening. I am immensely grateful to have read it and I could not recommend it more!
We must also address the root cause of tuberculosis, which is injustice. In a world where everyone can eat, and access healthcare, and be treated humanely, tuberculosis has no chance. Ultimately, we are the cause.
We must also be the cure.
March 31, 2025
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
This was genuinely so fascinating. I listened to the audio (read by John himself) during a road trip when it was my turn to drive. My husband, who is not a reader or listener of audios and thought it would be boring, had planned to nap while I drove but later said he couldn't fall asleep because the book was too interesting! (Though he does work in healthcare--paramedic--so I'm not completely surprised)
John Green writes a great juxtaposition of others' personal experiences with tuberculosis alongside the worldwide history of TB (including how it has affected the history of the United States, Europe, and more impoverished nations) and the systemical racism that perpetuated and continues to perpetuate where and to whom the cures for TB are available.
Thank you to Libro.fm and Penguin Random House for the advanced listening copy!
This was genuinely so fascinating. I listened to the audio (read by John himself) during a road trip when it was my turn to drive. My husband, who is not a reader or listener of audios and thought it would be boring, had planned to nap while I drove but later said he couldn't fall asleep because the book was too interesting! (Though he does work in healthcare--paramedic--so I'm not completely surprised)
John Green writes a great juxtaposition of others' personal experiences with tuberculosis alongside the worldwide history of TB (including how it has affected the history of the United States, Europe, and more impoverished nations) and the systemical racism that perpetuated and continues to perpetuate where and to whom the cures for TB are available.
Thank you to Libro.fm and Penguin Random House for the advanced listening copy!
March 5, 2025
Fascinating/heartbreaking/how have humans not prioritized ending TB
(Thank you Libro.fm & PRH for the ALC!)
(Thank you Libro.fm & PRH for the ALC!)
Want to read
October 22, 2024I am unreasonably excited for this
March 23, 2025
3.5 stars
Really good non-fiction book that charts the history of tuberculosis and it's presence today. What makes it special is how John Green understands that statistics are less affective than stories. Enter Henry. The heart of this book. A boy who spent years with a drug resistant strain of tuberculosis and ended up in the Lakka Hospital in Sierra Leone... a place patients go to die.
The conversational tone of the prose translates incredibly well to an audiobook format which is narrated by the author. Definitely recommend.
Really good non-fiction book that charts the history of tuberculosis and it's presence today. What makes it special is how John Green understands that statistics are less affective than stories. Enter Henry. The heart of this book. A boy who spent years with a drug resistant strain of tuberculosis and ended up in the Lakka Hospital in Sierra Leone... a place patients go to die.
The conversational tone of the prose translates incredibly well to an audiobook format which is narrated by the author. Definitely recommend.
March 4, 2025
We do not deserve this man, but I am so glad he exists.
March 20, 2025
CW: medical content, medical trauma, death, child death, classism, racism, terminal illness, chronic illness, cancer, animal death, transphobia, (mentions of) mental illness/OCD
As someone who became a hardcore Nerdfighter around the age of 12 or 13, what an absolute privilege it was for me to grow up and have the opportunity to read about John infodumping the equally fascinating and horrifying history of Tuberculosis.
(I also highly recommend you read the note on the typeface at the front of the book. I know I'm usually the only person on the planet who regularly reads about typeface but in this instance, it's worth it for everyone.)
As someone who became a hardcore Nerdfighter around the age of 12 or 13, what an absolute privilege it was for me to grow up and have the opportunity to read about John infodumping the equally fascinating and horrifying history of Tuberculosis.
(I also highly recommend you read the note on the typeface at the front of the book. I know I'm usually the only person on the planet who regularly reads about typeface but in this instance, it's worth it for everyone.)
March 19, 2025
Лучший, просто лучший в мире человек.
Want to read
October 24, 2024MILV (Man I Love Vlogbrothers)
March 30, 2025
[4.5 stars]
Buzzword Reading Challenge: "thing"
Buzzword Reading Challenge: "thing"
March 23, 2025
John Green is an American novelist (probably best known for ) 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 battling multi-drug resistant TB infection.
As a medical professional, I do think Green oversimplified the issue -- TB isn't a problem only because of drug companies' greed in medication pricing, but due to a large number of other factors, like social inequities, international and local infrastructures, politics, economics, etc. But for a lay audience, this is a great introduction.
Further reading: infectious disease and medical history
by Tracy Kidder (the late Dr. Farmer is mentioned throughout this book -- he did so much good in combating TB worldwide)
by Vidya Krishnan
by Jonathan Kennedy
by Muhammad Zaman
by Richard Barnett
My statistics:
Book 93 for 2025
Book 2019 cumulatively
As a medical professional, I do think Green oversimplified the issue -- TB isn't a problem only because of drug companies' greed in medication pricing, but due to a large number of other factors, like social inequities, international and local infrastructures, politics, economics, etc. But for a lay audience, this is a great introduction.
Further reading: infectious disease and medical history
by Tracy Kidder (the late Dr. Farmer is mentioned throughout this book -- he did so much good in combating TB worldwide)
by Vidya Krishnan
by Jonathan Kennedy
by Muhammad Zaman
by Richard Barnett
My statistics:
Book 93 for 2025
Book 2019 cumulatively
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