Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness, death, and child death.

John Green is the author of Everything Is Tuberculosis. Green is an American writer famous for his contributions to the young adult genre. His first novel, Looking for Alaska, was published in 2005 and received the Michael L. Printz Award the following year. His best-known work is The Fault in Our Stars, a 2012 young adult novel about the relationship between two teens who have cancer. Green utilizes his skills as a storyteller throughout Everything Is Tuberculosis, employing a narrative structure to explore the life of Henry Reider, a patient at Lakka Government Hospital.

Green pivoted into nonfiction in 2021 with the publication of his first book of essays, The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet. The book was adapted from Green’s podcast, which reviewed aspects of humanity’s impact on Earth, as well as personal experiences from his life. Prior to the podcast, Green, along with his brother, Hank, developed a YouTube-based educational platform called Crash Course, which covers history, science, and topics in literature. Green’s second nonfiction book, Everything Is Tuberculosis, spans five of personal experience in the sphere of global health activism.