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.

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.

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.