John Green's newest book came out last month. His book tour made a stop near my house. Luckily I managed to get a ticket early, because apparently they sold out in about 30 hours.
It's awesome how he's bringing so much attention to problems like tuberculosis, which is the world's most deadly infectious disease, even though it's curable.
Back in college, I figured that one of the characters had tuberculosis as a child. So this book is also great research material for me.
I left for the event very early, because I planned to run a couple errands on the way. But that fell through, so I got to the event very early and was about 8th in line at the door. Ahead of me, some of the people started getting very excited because they saw John Green inside. I didn't think I would be that excited - I have already seen him and Hank at the TFIOS book tour. But I found that it was really great to see him in person, after watching so many of his videos.
He wouldn't be doing an in-person signing, but he had pre-signed a bunch of books that were for sale. The lady was impressed at how fast he signed them, and a bunch of us chuckled at that comment because we know how much autograph experience he has.
I bought a signed copy of The Anthropocene Reviewed. I read the book a while ago, and enjoyed it. I left a letter and a poem for John.
At that point, I'd read most of Everything is Tuberculosis. As I waited in the audience, I finished it. It was great. I wish there were more books that are both educational, and interesting to read.
At one point during the talk, a baby in the audience started crying and the dad (I assume) started carrying them out. John said, "oh no, the baby is leaving." It was like what happened during the talk at Fanime, with the producer from Studio Ghibli. John went on to apologize to the baby for the state of the world.
Indeed, Everything is Tuberculosis was released at a hell of a time. The wannabe president halted spending that was needed to stop countless people from dying. Tuberculosis drugs that had already been paid for ended up sitting in warehouses, where they went bad and couldn't be used. Many people that relied on those drugs will end up with drug-resistant tuberculosis, and many of them will die from it.
And things have gotten even crazier since then. But we've gotta keep fighting.
Henry's story gave the book so much life. He wasn't able to do a video call with our audience, because he was studying for exams. He and his friends go camping before exams, so they can cram with fewer distractions. That sounds like a fun way to study!
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