The Story of a Persistent Companion

I am a fan of science fiction books and I rarely go toward other genres. I mean, why bother with dark present (or dark past) when you can read about dark future? But, I occasionally do read things that contain no aliens. And one of the alien-deficient authors I like is John Green.

If that name sounds familiar, it’s probably from his Crash Course World History. I watched that darn series with my kids multiple times and, even though there was some growelling, it was an overall enjoyable experience. My first notion of him as an author was Looking for Alaska, a book that I am definitely too old for but one that I enjoyed immensely. Suffice to say that, if he writes something, it’s highly probable I will eventually read it. Maybe not immediately (again, not enough aliens in his work), but I will get around to it.

This time I actually jumped early on his literally train by actually preordering Everything Is Tuberculosis back in 2024 (31st December still counts as 2024!). After reading many of his books, I felt sure enough that book would be readable enough. Book did arrive on time, but then spent a few days just sitting around because I had no time for it.

But, when I got to it, I didn’t let the darn thing go. As often happens with good books and my poor writing skills, I cannot really tell you what made it such a good read. Maybe it was John’s voice playing in my head as if I was listening to one of his Crash Course series. Maybe it was vivid stories about impact of tuberculosis to the real human beings. Maybe it was as simple as me and my personal experiences. It doesn’t really matter, this book touched something that hasn’t been tickled in a while.

I won’t go directly into book content. Not due to spoilers - tuberculosis is quite an old story. Reason is that you can watch John’s own The Deadliest Infectious Disease of All Time video where you’re essentially given the highlights. But, as good video is, book is so much more. It really brings you along for a trip.

If you are going to read one book this year, it might as well be this one.