Banana

The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World

By: Dan Koeppel

Narrated by: Paul Woodson

To most people a banana is a banana: a simple yellow fruit. Americans eat more bananas than apples and oranges combined. In others parts of the world, bananas are what keep millions of people alive. But for all its ubiquity, the banana is surprisingly mysterious; nobody knows how bananas evolved or exactly where they originated. Rich cultural lore surrounds the fruit: In ancient translations of the Bible, the "apple" consumed by Eve is actually a banana.

But the biggest mystery about the banana today is whether it will survive. A seedless fruit with a unique reproductive system, every banana is a genetic duplicate of the next and therefore susceptible to the same blights. Today's yellow banana, the Cavendish, is increasingly threatened by such a blight, and there's no cure in sight.

Banana combines a pop-science journey around the globe, a fascinating tale of an iconic American business enterprise, and a look into the alternately tragic and hilarious banana subculture (one does exist) - ultimately taking us 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.

©2008 Dan Koeppel (P)2016 Tantor

Read for an assignment

I read this as an alternative assignment for class. I enjoyed it. The author talks about the economic and political influences the banana has had in various countries over the centuries. As well as discusses the genetic modifications and biotechnology scientists have used to help the banana fight against diseases and fungi.

very educational

lovd the book and narrator. I learned alot. this book really was researched well.

Total Banana History

I didn't know what to expect with this book. I was skeptical at first, but it drew me in rather quickly with the history of the banana, different variations of the fruit, and terrible treatment of the people that harvest them. Good book that I would definitely recommend listening to.

Fascinating!

Fabulously interesting and a great narrator! I will never look at a banana the same!

Incredible

This book touches on the history of Latin America and the corruption of the banana industry and its effect on the world. If you love history, Latin studies, agriculture, this book is for you.

Very Good Book - History, Science, and Economics

The narrator is good and the book is good, very solid and interesting read

From neolithic Kuk Swamp bananas to state-of-the-art GMO bananas, this book covers thousands of years of development of a fruit.

Bananas have a business, history, scientific, economic, and political history. This makes the story of bananas a fascinating to read.

You also great detail and understanding of the challenges to growing and managing the bananas industry. The business is not simple, not cheap, and very politically complicated.

It’s a great and upsetting book

It’s a great read and understand why this single fruit can be such a polarizing topic. It’s an overall great product, and the author details eloquently the set of actions done by the banana corporations, I had seldom knowledge about the actions done, but the feelings today feel so upsetting, and see them now as acts of corruption. Who know what happens next to the banana if the fruit will continue in the coming decades.

A story that laments Euro-centrism is Euro-centric

The story laments several times about silenced voices of the banana laborers but makes no efforts to uncover the stories of these banana workers. It makes no mention of the Chinese or African laborers from the Caribbean who moved to Central America and often died for the banana industry. Rather, it mentions American prisoners and Italians who ran away from the work.

The story is not compelling

The presentation is a bid boring. I think if it was read better, it might be much more interesting.

Boring, Reoetitive

I just don’t think there is enough material in the world of bananas to fill a book.

Yes, it is the 4th most valuable crop in the world, and yes, the Cavendish, by far the most common banana, is in trouble, but the author keeps bringing the same stuff up again and again.

Got about half-way through, and gave up. I almost never give-up on a book. Similar books, micro-histories like ‘The Book on the Bookshelf’, the history of the bookshelf, is fabulous, and the book (title scapes me) On the history of the screwdriver, is a page turner by comparison. ‘The Perfectionistsk the history of Precision, is great. Bananas, not so much.