Melanie (meltotheany)'s Reviews > Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection

“And so we have entered a strange era of human history: A preventable, curable infectious disease remains our deadliest. That's the world we are currently choosing.”

everything really is tuberculosis… and the horrors of capitalism… and big pharma being the true mustache twirling villains, unfortunately. this was a very insightful book about the history, and the still very current epidemic, of the disease that hasn’t gone away just because americans do not believe it impacts them any longer. there is also a personal story, that is very near to john's heart, that is constantly a throughline for this book, and it was very emotionally felt through these pages.

john does not shy away from the racism, colorism, and xenophobia connected to how people (again, history and current) conceptualize and react to tb, very much including stigmas surrounding it. and he also touches on the horrors of industrialization, poverty, and the consumption of products over actual human lives. i am really glad this book exists, i’m thankful for john for using his platform to give a voice to the voiceless, and, at the very least, i hope this really does open people in power’s eyes to the resilience of this bacteria, and how the luck of being born in a “rich” country might not stop this crisis from impacting their lives.

“It reminded me, that when we know about suffering, when we are proximal to it, we are capable of extraordinary generosity. We can do and be so much for each other. But only when we see one another in our full humanity. Not as statistics or problems, but as people who deserve to be alive in the world.”

blog | instagram | youtube | wishlist | spotify | substack

━━♡ buddy read with betty jo