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smashton12's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. I had no idea how rich, tumultuous and blood-soaked the history of the banana is. It's interesting to see where the future of the banana lies, according to the author. This was definitely thought provoking.
sjgrodsky's review against another edition
3.0
Nonfiction gives you some insight into the personality of the author. And I think I would like Dan Koeppel. But I also expect that conversation with him would prove somewhat frustrating as I probed on topics that interested me and got little to nothing in response.
For example: Koeppel mentions many times the environmental degradation caused by banana culture. But he leaves it at that, without any details on the extent of the degradation, efforts to repair abandoned plantations, the long term effects.
And what about organically grown bananas? The book leaves you with the impression that conventional bananas are a fruit you can't eat in good conscience. Are organic bananas grown sustainably? Are workers in better health? Are they traded fairly?
I wish the author had spent less time on bioengineering and more on these consumer issues.
I also have to agree with other reviewers who complained of "sloppy research". Example: at one point the author says that Eli Black jumped out of the Pan Am building. Within 80 pages the building becomes the MetLife building. Maybe the building bore both names at different times. But you gotta explain.
For example: Koeppel mentions many times the environmental degradation caused by banana culture. But he leaves it at that, without any details on the extent of the degradation, efforts to repair abandoned plantations, the long term effects.
And what about organically grown bananas? The book leaves you with the impression that conventional bananas are a fruit you can't eat in good conscience. Are organic bananas grown sustainably? Are workers in better health? Are they traded fairly?
I wish the author had spent less time on bioengineering and more on these consumer issues.
I also have to agree with other reviewers who complained of "sloppy research". Example: at one point the author says that Eli Black jumped out of the Pan Am building. Within 80 pages the building becomes the MetLife building. Maybe the building bore both names at different times. But you gotta explain.
10_4tina's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.25
What an interesting deep-dive on the banana. This was such a Christina book. Similar to the Secret Life of Groceries, this one took some darker turns in the banana's history and wasn't as cheery and light as I expected. The dark side of agriculture always catches me off guard. That heavier side of its geopolitical history made me read it slower, but still I liked it enough. Bananas (everyone's favorite asexual berry) have so many fun facts and so much interesting history and if you love a random deep dive, or fear a world without bananas, this one is worth the read.
bupdaddy's review against another edition
3.0
Bananas have been coming up in my life a lot lately - I've decided they're the wonder food for biking. A guy at work has been sharing lots of banana factoids. So I'm predisposed to like reading about bananas.
And the first hundred pages or so were really interesting. I had no idea that before 1870, Americans didn't eat bananas at all. Then bananas exploded on the scene faster than Gangnam-style. United Fruits (Chiquita) and Standard Fruits (Dole) were ruthless robber barons that made the era of robber barons proud. "Banana Republic" is no misnomer - Central American and Caribbean governments existed at the pleasure of the banana companies. Then, the biggest breed of banana got a disease! That's hugely bad for banana stalks, which are reproduced from cuttings, and are all genetically identical for a particular breed! So the bananas people ate in the 1920's - Gros Michels - are basically extinct! Now our breed (Cavendish!) is facing a similar disease!
Then the next hundred pages were kind of interesting. Before 1870, Americans didn't eat bananas at all. Then bananas exploded on the scene. United Fruits (Chiquita) and Standard Fruits (Dole) were ruthless robber barons that made their eras proud. "Banana Republics" - Central American and Caribbean governments - existed at the pleasure of the banana companies. Then, the biggest breed of banana got a disease. That's hugely bad for banana stalks. So the bananas people ate in the 1920's - Gros Michels - are basically extinct. Now our breed (Cavendish) is facing a similar disease.
Then the last 60 pages were not interesting. Before 1870, Americans didn't eat bananas at all. Then bananas exploded. United Fruits and Standard Fruits were ruthless. "Banana Republics" existed at the pleasure of the banana companies. Then, the biggest breed got a disease. They're gone. Our breed (Cavendish) is facing a similar disease. The last 16 pages were a timeline that went over it all again.
The photos were boring, too, and I suspect were there to pad out the pages.
100 pages crammed into 260, basically. Still, interesting enough.
And the first hundred pages or so were really interesting. I had no idea that before 1870, Americans didn't eat bananas at all. Then bananas exploded on the scene faster than Gangnam-style. United Fruits (Chiquita) and Standard Fruits (Dole) were ruthless robber barons that made the era of robber barons proud. "Banana Republic" is no misnomer - Central American and Caribbean governments existed at the pleasure of the banana companies. Then, the biggest breed of banana got a disease! That's hugely bad for banana stalks, which are reproduced from cuttings, and are all genetically identical for a particular breed! So the bananas people ate in the 1920's - Gros Michels - are basically extinct! Now our breed (Cavendish!) is facing a similar disease!
Then the next hundred pages were kind of interesting. Before 1870, Americans didn't eat bananas at all. Then bananas exploded on the scene. United Fruits (Chiquita) and Standard Fruits (Dole) were ruthless robber barons that made their eras proud. "Banana Republics" - Central American and Caribbean governments - existed at the pleasure of the banana companies. Then, the biggest breed of banana got a disease. That's hugely bad for banana stalks. So the bananas people ate in the 1920's - Gros Michels - are basically extinct. Now our breed (Cavendish) is facing a similar disease.
Then the last 60 pages were not interesting. Before 1870, Americans didn't eat bananas at all. Then bananas exploded. United Fruits and Standard Fruits were ruthless. "Banana Republics" existed at the pleasure of the banana companies. Then, the biggest breed got a disease. They're gone. Our breed (Cavendish) is facing a similar disease. The last 16 pages were a timeline that went over it all again.
The photos were boring, too, and I suspect were there to pad out the pages.
100 pages crammed into 260, basically. Still, interesting enough.
lavoiture's review against another edition
3.0
Finally, I finished! This was an interesting, if somewhat bleak, look at bananas. I thought it would be more about the history of bananas and the involvement of banana companies in Central America. Turns out it was more about the diseases that are striking down bananas in a plague-like fashion all over the world. Scary. My children, or my children's children, most likely won't know the bananas we eat today--and the author argues that genetically modifying bananas might be the only way to save the fruit in general. Anywho. It was pretty good.
sandrinepal's review against another edition
2.0
This book has been my all-natural sleep aid for over two months. Three pages would reliably put me under. I learner some interesting factoids along the way, but it turns out the timeline at the end of the book was the Cliff Notes. Oh well.
sclinch915's review against another edition
4.0
This is an eye-opening book. I never knew how interesting bananas are, nor how crazy their history. I'm dying to try other types. And I'd love to see how the companies deal with the current crises. My only issue is the last quarter of the book, Koeppel didn't sustain the initial wow factor that kept me reading. Honestly, I barely skimmed the last chapter. Nevertheless, I would still recommend this book.
gilmoremk's review against another edition
4.0
Did I think I was interested in bananas enough to read 300 pages about them? Not really, but I did and I really enjoyed it. I knew bananas were a weird clonal monoculture that was in danger, but I had no idea the extent of it, or how much some cultures depend on bananas for their diets, or how many different banana options there are in the world. Quick, fun, and informative read that will leave you wishing you had more banana options in your grocery store.
themadmadmadeline's review against another edition
2.0
I absolutely loved the portions of the book which involved the banana's biological history and life as an organism. However, I found that parts of the book dragged for me personally. I really didn't find the "human interest" portions of the book to be related to the actual organism (of the banana) and I felt that the author digressed greatly from the actual topic. While the book was well-written (and while bits were fascinating!) I found myself just trying to get it done; I found the book to be extremely out of order (while it's fine for books to not necessarily be in chronological order, the author did not craft the book exceptionally well to the point where I felt the portions which were out of order flowed). However, the snippets I learned definitely made me change my attitude towards the banana and how it fits in our world- I guess the author did his job at the end of the day.