I have been watching John Green's videos on YouTube for over a few months now. And any video on tuberculosis that he made was just perfect. Connecting the disease with current issues, beauty standards, language is a very powerful and intriguing way to show its influence on humanity. So when I found out that John Green has written a book on it, I was already hooked. The first half was rather disappointing. Except for the story of Henry, that, by the way, really nicely connects the whole book togheter, I wasn't learning anything new. I already knew most of the information from John Green's videos. The best sort of advertisement for the book was the reason why I was disappointed. Which is a little ironic. I am also somehow used to reading scientific articles, so reading this book, and not having a footnote that references the exact piece of art, or the exact newspaper article mentioned in the text gave me the very uncomfortable feeling like I do not have the ability to fact check the claims entirely. On the other hand, the book is very engagingly written. And the second half included a lot of facts l had no clue about - whether it be all the information about the current state of tuberculosis in the world, or the brilliantly told story of Conan Doyle, or the stories or mentions of dr. Alan Hart. So overall, a great experience, and a nicely, realistically and not overly sentimentally written book.

"We cannot address TB only with vaccines and medications. We cannot address it only with comprehensive STP programs. 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." schovat popis