Wow! eBook
Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World Unabridged Edition
Author(s): Dan Koeppel (Author)
- Publisher: Tantor and Blackstone Publishing
- Publication Date: March 1, 2021
- Edition: Unabridged
- Language: English
- Print length: 1 pages
- ISBN-10: 1799974332
- ISBN-13: 9781799974338
Book Description
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.
Editorial Reviews
Review
With his smooth baritone, [Paul Woodson] does an excellent job. His pronunciation is clear, and his pacing as always good.–AudioFile “AudioFile”
About the Author
Dan Koeppel, a 2011 James Beard Award winner, is a well-known outdoors, nature, and adventure writer who has written for the New York Times Magazine, Outside, Audubon, Popular Science, and National Geographic Adventure. Dan has also appeared on CNN and Good Morning America, and is a former commentator for Public Radio International’s Marketplace. He is the author of Banana and To See Every Bird on Earth.
