In the vein of the bestselling Salt and Cod, a gripping chronicle of the myth, mystery, and uncertain fate of the world’s most popular fruit

In this fascinating and surprising exploration of the banana’s history, cultural significance, and endangered future, award-winning journalist Dan Koeppel gives readers plenty of food for thought. Fast-paced and highly entertaining, Banana takes us from jungle to supermarket, from corporate boardrooms to kitchen tables around the world. We begin in the Garden of Eden—examining scholars’ belief that Eve’s “apple” was actually a banana— and travel to early-twentieth-century Central America, where aptly named “banana republics” rose and fell over the crop, while the companies now known as Chiquita and Dole conquered the marketplace. Koeppel then chronicles the banana’s path to the present, ultimately—and most alarmingly—taking us to banana plantations across the globe that are being destroyed by a fast-moving blight, with no cure in sight—and to the high-tech labs where new bananas are literally being built in test tubes, in a race to save the world’s most beloved fruit.

ISBN13: 9780452290082
Condition: New
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Good, but not exactly a 'keeper' (3.0)

I enjoyed this book for revealing the actual, factual story of 'Big Banana' in Central and South America. It was good to finally read an account of what ACTUALLY happened, as opposed to the generalized 'it was a very bad time' story that one hears from people who either lived through it themselves, or heard it from their parents. Or worse, other writers who have either downplayed the villainy of these companies, or exaggerated it to demonic proportions. The reality was ugly enough.
Having visited and/or lived in some of the banana growing regions of the Western Hemisphere, I can tell you the damage is/was real, and continues to this day. The runoff from banana fields contaminates every body of water for miles around an active field.

The writing in here was pretty good. Not great, but not bad. The style is a little breezy in spots, but thats to be expected in a 'popular' book of this subject matter. I really think a few more photos would have enhanced this book tremendously, as well as a slightly more scholarly tone in a few areas. However, I realize that this is personal preference, and does not detract from the quality of the book. It just got a bit 'chatty' for my taste.

I would have given a 4 star, but the book lacks any detailed horticultural information (other than discussion of the use of pesticides), and that seems like an appropriate and needed addition to a book that tries to discuss a fruit that supports millions of lives. Politics, science and history are well discussed, but I really would have liked a little more about the impact of this fruit on lives of individuals who depend on it for daily sustenance. Horticultural info, a deeper discussion of varieties (including some more obscure cultivars), recipes, maps...something that would make this book less disposable.

A good, quick read (2 nights), but not one that is going to have a permanent home on my bookshelf

Less about the banana and more about the evil U.S. and banana companies (2.0)

I won't review the book as there have been plenty of those here but I will say I was disappointed that most of the book is less about the banana (understandably so) and more about the political conditions of the times and bad behavior of the banana companies and U.S. Government. At least in the author's mind. Interesting but not recommended if one is enticed by the title. He does not attempt to hide his animosity toward the U.S. Government and the banana companies - the title is misleading - he should have added, "and how its developement, spurred by coroporate powers, and the U.S. Government ruined nations and killed people". At least, be honest. And, btw, take the author's opinions with a dose of reality.

VegNews on Banana (4.0)

Dan Koeppel's Banana is a fascinating historical non-novel, chronicling 7,000 years of the world's most popular fruit, replete with religion (Eve ate a banana, not an apple), revolution (Ché Guevara witnessing a US-led Guatemalan coup), and research (the sexless, seedless banana easily succumbs to disease--the race is on to save it). Bet you didn't know that the first banana transported around the globe, the Gros Michel, went all-but-extinct. The Cavandish, the fruit we're all familiar with, replaced the Gros Michel around 1970. The banana industry has done much more than birth Central American republics. It's also responsible for refrigerated shipping, supermarket coupons tying one product to another (think corn flakes), and the use of numeric "identification" codes, the antecedents of today's bar codes. Banana is a globe-spanning tale of business tycoons, revolutions, suicides, destructive rainforest clearing monoculture, and abusive labor practices--all necessary to get a perishable product from the tropics cheaply and quickly. Sometimes a banana isn't just a banana; you'll never look at one the same way again.

Enjoyable and well-written (4.0)

A fascinating foray into what you'd think would be a boring subject (who knew bananas are riveting?) Edifying and well presented... I'll never look at a banana the same way again.

Fascinating account of the banana business and one of the world's most popular fruits (4.0)

The author does a fine job with this history of banana-business rivals United Fruit (now Chiquita) and Standard Fruit (now Dole). Interspersed with the details of corporate development are scientific details on the banana, the diseases that afflict it, the people that rely on it, the governments that are (or have been) ruled because of it and the issues it faces.

Something I didn't know before I read this book: Bananas are not grown from seeds. Cuttings are taken from existing banana plants and nurtured into yet more banana plants from which cuttings will eventually be taken et cetera et cetera et cetera.

The book would have benefited tremendously with the addition of more pictures and maps, plus a list of every known banana type and the odds of anyone getting his or her hands on one. Although the author mentions various banana varieties, he typically does not show you what they look like. Color plates of the top bananas (pun intended) along with their region of origin in the caption would have enabled a further grasp of how different some bananas really are from others. That creamy purple Tahitian one is something I'd like to check out. Sounds tasty. Wish I knew what it looked like.

At the end of the book, there is a short timeline of the banana and the people, countries and companies involved with its business or scientific development.

All in all, very interesting and informative. Left me wanting more. As another reviewer complained, by the end of the book, you're really not sure how much longer the currently consumed (yet endangered) supermarket banana (the Cavendish) has before extinction. Maybe no one really knows.

Worth a look if you've ever been curious about the banana.