John Green's Tuberculosis Obsession
A passionate activist shares a life-altering niche topic
Occasionally, one person’s dedicated obsession is strong enough to shift pop culture, alter government policy, or save human lives. Recently, John Green released Everything is Tuberculosis, a 200-page primer on the persistence of a curable yet deadly disease.
With his partnership with Partners in Health and his fanbase, John Green and his brother Hank have raised over thirty million dollars to tackle healthcare in Sierra Leone. In 2019, John Green met Henry, a young tuberculosis patient treated at a government hospital. In the years since Green’s visit, he has become a champion and voice for the fight against the disease and equitable medical systems.
Everything is Tuberculosis strives to bring greater awareness to the 1.5 million people who die from the treatable infectious disease through extensive research, Green’s experiences in Sierra Leone, and the case of Henry’s treatment. Green describes how our world has been shaped by tuberculosis, including beauty standards, fashion, and systemic racism globally.
I’m left wanting more from Green—more about how one man’s experience with tuberculosis leads to the modern cowboy hat, more about the infected young men behind Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination, more about how the discovery of bacteria led tuberculosis to shift in narrative from a white man’s disease to a black person’s infection. In many ways, it reminds me of an abridged version of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Tuberculosis is a strong introduction to the genre for those not accustomed to science-medical writing.
Towards the end of the book, John Green describes why he wrote Tuberculosis. It left a mark on me in the only way a Green brother can. After writing five young adult fiction novels, Green found a large platform and megaphone to wield. He heard many voices sharing their health stories in Sierra Leone, including Henry, and sought to amplify their words about the forgotten disease and the people it affects. While some may criticize Green’s fiction, one cannot deny his and his brother's impact on making the world a better place. I wonder where my obsessions will take me one day and if I will use them to make the kind of impact Green has.
Everything is Tuberculosis can be found wherever books are sold and as an audiobook read by the author.