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Everything Is Tuberculosis

The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

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Everything Is Tuberculosis

By: John Green
Narrated by: John Green
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

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.

© John Green 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

 Contagious Diseases History History & Philosophy Physical Illness & Disease Science Respiratory Disease Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking
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Critic reviews

Earnest and empathetic
Everything Is Tuberculosis doesn’t so much tell you the story of tuberculosis, as much as it gently holds your hand and parts the curtains into one of the darkest, most bizarre, and frustrating series of decisions in world history with the other... A quintessential John Green book: one that grapples with the issue of mortality and our conflicting desires to both help and hurt one another, all within the backdrop of the coming of age of a young man
Green uses the stories of real people to turn overwhelming problems into something personal and understandable.
This highly readable call to action could not be more timely
Henry’s story is hopeful and heartbreaking; readers will be rooting for him and his family the whole way through
Green writes expertly of the illness’s history, causes (malnutrition, poverty, bad sanitation, etc.), and cure… Insightful and extremely well and clearly written, Everything Is Tuberculosis makes what might be inaccessible accessible
In these challenging times, the global health community is fortunate to count on Green and his inspiring advocacy
A story of hope and tragedy that feels terribly relevant at a time when the global healthcare system is coming under attack.
An exceptional combination of memoir, medical history and cultural analysis…. Memorably probes the intersections of medicine and human emotion
All stars
Most relevant
John Green has yet again made something that connects the individual to the collective humanity in a easily absorbable and relatable way.
He has taken a topic that I had barely thought about and made me deeply care about it - in a way that is easy to listen to and enjoyable even if it brought me to tears while cooking the dinner on a number of occasions.
John Green also narrates well and my only complaint is that the book wasn’t longer.
I will be recommending it to all.
Marco.
Polo.

Essential and beautiful

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Told with passion and compassion, very insightful yet personal. This book is a great balance of story telling and education.
I'd never really thought much about tuberculosis, it wasn't a disease I was familiar with, but to find out how it's shaped much of our world, and still affects millions today was hugely insightful. I will be keeping an eye out for more books by John Green.
Would highly recommend, and is suitable for anyone from teens upwards.

Well worth a listen!

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Very well paced and detailed. I learned so much and have a yearning to explore and understand more. Mark of well told and conveyed thoughts.

Fantastic Learning

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I feel like John Green is the only person that could write a long essay essentially about how much rich people suck for overcharging for life-saving medicine, and get away with it. All whilst giving us a real persons insight into surviving, and living with TB.

Another incredible book from Green!

Another brilliant book from John Green

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Loved the way John Green drew me into this disease and the stories and facts around it. Who knew a book all about TB would be impossible to stop listening to. Excellent.

Great story telling and inspiring

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