nick_latanick's review against another edition
3.0
A book full of interesting biological facts and history, somewhat ruined by over-preachyness, especially at the ending.
ehmannky's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
3.75
1 - It's absolutely wild how much pain and destruction a couple of fruit companies have caused on this earth. And how much financial and political power they have wielded in the United States and continue to wield.
2 - I think it's pretty depressing that this book came out in 2007--nearly 2 decades ago--and none of the problems regarding the monoculture of bananas, the problems with corporations owning GMOs for food billions of people rely on for food, the diseases in banana fruits, etc. have been resolved. I am now pretty convinced that, thanks to capitalism and greed, we are going to lose bananas within the next few decades.
3 - I will cut Koeppel some slack because this book is nearly 2 decades old so perhaps his beliefs regarding this have changed, but I thought it was kind of wild that he puts so much pressure on individuals to buy the right (fair trade) bananas and to take this into our own hands when the answer is so clearly that the U.S. government needs to take a hard line with these companies and mandate political changes to make this happen. Like, you can't individual choice your way out of a problem caused by companies so powerful that the United States government does what it can to please them.
4 - I want to eat the fancy bananas described in this book soooooo badly.
2 - I think it's pretty depressing that this book came out in 2007--nearly 2 decades ago--and none of the problems regarding the monoculture of bananas, the problems with corporations owning GMOs for food billions of people rely on for food, the diseases in banana fruits, etc. have been resolved. I am now pretty convinced that, thanks to capitalism and greed, we are going to lose bananas within the next few decades.
3 - I will cut Koeppel some slack because this book is nearly 2 decades old so perhaps his beliefs regarding this have changed, but I thought it was kind of wild that he puts so much pressure on individuals to buy the right (fair trade) bananas and to take this into our own hands when the answer is so clearly that the U.S. government needs to take a hard line with these companies and mandate political changes to make this happen. Like, you can't individual choice your way out of a problem caused by companies so powerful that the United States government does what it can to please them.
4 - I want to eat the fancy bananas described in this book soooooo badly.
eric_conrad's review against another edition
4.0
Very informative. A fascinating book about the history and current fragile existence of the banana that most people in the United States eat.
12roxy's review against another edition
3.0
This important story is awkwardly written and poorly edited.
mrsbond's review against another edition
4.0
Detailed and interesting look at the past, present and future of bananas. Surprised by the level of involvement of banana companies in South American government; even more surprised by US involvement on behalf of the banana companies. Provides some insight into the efforts by researchers to develop a banana that would be capable of replacing the Cavendish, which is plagued by disease. Brief discussion on genetically modified foods (author believes this may be the only way to save the banana).
kbratten's review against another edition
3.0
Who knows anything about bananas? This book is more interesting than many other based on one subject. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes bananas, because you can never eat another one again without thinking about something learned in the book.
brynpemery's review
informative
medium-paced
3.0
I’m a fan of micro histories and this was interesting, but definitely more journalistic than historical. I felt the different components of the book could have been better woven together, and it bothered me how often the author used “we” when discussing the US and Western Europe. More diverse perspectives would have been helpful. And I’d be interested in an update, 15 years later, about how some of the Panama disease mitigation techniques have continued to develop.
aprilmay11's review against another edition
3.0
Wars have been fought over bananas. And what an interesting history. I love bananas and so grateful for all the hard work.