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Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World

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Author: Dan Koeppel
Publisher: Hudson Street Press
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$23.95~~
Buy New: $4.94
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Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

29 reviews
Sales Rank: 73686

Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.3

ISBN: 1594630380
Dewey Decimal Number: 634.772
EAN: 9781594630385
ASIN: 1594630380

Publication Date: December 27, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Also Available In:

•	Paperback - Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World
•	Hardcover - Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World
•	Kindle Edition - Banana

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
A gripping biological detective story that uncovers the myth, mystery, and endangered fate of the worlds most humble fruit

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 (it makes sense, doesnt it?). Entire Central American nations have been said to rise and fall over the 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. Todays yellow banana, the Cavendish, is increasingly threatened by such a blightand theres 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 worlds most beloved fruit.

Customer Reviews: Read 24 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Crazy about Banana November 24, 2008
I decided to read this book after hearing about it on NPR. I just had to know more about how Americas favorite fruit had control over much of the worlds great powers. Its awesome. I love all food and want to know as much about it as I can. I sure know a lot more about Bananas than I used to. I also took something away from this book that I didn't expect. I learned more geography and science from this book than I did in highschool, though I must say I wasn't the best of students. It proved to me that geography and science can be very interesting if they are put into a form that you understand. LOVE THE BANANA!

4 out of 5 stars

Banana Review November 3, 2008
I enjoyed it very much, but I tend to really like agricultural related material. The history of the companies were the highlights for me.

2 out of 5 stars

A Rambling, Poorly Written Novel September 3, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

Like many others here, I purchased this book because of its exposure on Public Radio. Based on what I'd heard I was hoping for an informative and engaging book. Sadly, I was disappointed on both counts. This is a rambling history of the banana intermixed with very poorly described science. I'm sure there is a fascinating story to be told about the sordid history of United Fruit and the future of the banana. This isn't it.

The author relies heavily on ridiculous hyperbole (The banana is nearly extinct; Oh I mean it may face extinction in 5, 10, or 20 years; Oh I mean there are a number of maladies that affect the most popular variety of banana). These short hyperbolic sections are padded out by long, poorly written chapters tracing the history of the banana and focus primarily on the misdeeds of United Fruit. There is just not enough compelling history nor enough detailed science to make a novel here. I don't know how this made it past an editor (it could lose 100 pages easily), but in any case this book is not worth your time.

5 out of 5 stars

Mangu de Platano August 27, 2008
I am deeply grateful to Koeppel for the tribute he paid to Phil Rowe, the United Brands banana/plantain breeder in Honduras who died in 2001. Koeppel never met him but obviously captured a strong sense of who Phil was and his important contribution to world food security. I met Phil Rowe in 1981 in Tela Honduras and spent the day enthralled listening and learning about challenges to the World banana/plantain crop and Phil's efforts to overcome the challenges to successful banana/plantain breeding.

Koeppel's book emphasizes dessert banana issues. However, the World primarily relies on bananas and plantains as a vegetable crop. In the Dominican Republic they eat cooked green plantains 3 times a day and prefer it to potatoes. Next time you are in New York stop by a Dominican restaraunt and try mangu de platano for breakfast or fresh tostones hot off of the skillet. For those of you that have lived or visited Panama or Colombia, tostones are called patacones.

5 out of 5 stars

Bananarama! The Forbidden and Forgotten Fruit of the Loom. August 26, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Out of all the fruits grown in the world,the banana gets little respect.Yet,the banana is perhaps the single most important fruit ever cultivated on our good Earth.Dan Koeppel writes a very interesting historical and cultural book about the seriousness of the banana politics.Countless comics have slipped on a banana peel and heaved a banana cream pie on another.We use phrases like ,'second banana' and 'banana republic';to deride or comically mock a puppet leader or puppet government.Still ,banananomics is serious business and directly affects the global food markets. The author brings to light the true economic and geopolitical impact the banana fruit has had and currently has ,on the world today.The loss of this fruit will have catastrophic reverberations,both socially and monitarily,around the globe.The plight of this fruity staple,the Cavendish banana, may be irreversible and doomed to extinction,like the elder Gros Michel banana.This is an excellent book that brings awareness of the looming fate for the tropical Cavendish banana.Yes,we have no bananas? Maybe not.Scientists are racing for a solution to the fungus disease,that is decimating banana production,every year.It's hard to imagine a world without bananas.And even harder to fathom a world dealing with its loss from everyone's shopping cart.This book will change the way you view bananas.And will make you give some respect to the 'second banana' ,in your cornucopia basket.

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