The Fish That Ate the Whale

The Life and Times of America's Banana King

By: Rich Cohen

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Named a Best Book of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle and The Times-Picayune

The fascinating untold tale of Samuel Zemurray, the self-made banana mogul who went from penniless roadside banana peddler to kingmaker and capitalist revolutionary

When Samuel Zemurray arrived in America in 1891, he was tall, gangly, and penniless. When he died in the grandest house in New Orleans sixty-nine years later, he was among the richest, most powerful men in the world. Working his way up from a roadside fruit peddler to conquering the United Fruit Company, Zemurray became a symbol of the best and worst of the United States: proof that America is the land of opportunity, but also a classic example of the corporate pirate who treats foreign nations as the backdrop for his adventures.

Zemurray lived one of the great untold stories of the last hundred years. Starting with nothing but a cart of freckled bananas, he built a sprawling empire of banana cowboys, mercenary soldiers, Honduran peasants, CIA agents, and American statesmen. From hustling on the docks of New Orleans to overthrowing Central American governments and precipitating the bloody thirty-six-year Guatemalan civil war, the Banana Man lived a monumental and sometimes dastardly life. Rich Cohen's brilliant historical profile The Fish That Ate the Whale unveils Zemurray as a hidden power broker, driven by an indomitable will to succeed.

Phenomenal

Wonderfully written. A phenomenal business biography on par with Chernow’s Titan and Caro’s Power Broker.

Fascinating!

Everything! Don’t judge a book by its cover! Who would of thoughts bananas gangsters existed!

The Banana Man! and a park in Hammond, La.

learning the story behind the name of a park in Hammond, LA. that I played in as a child. great read

Really intriguing story

Very engaging + inspiring, yet a good cautionary tale. Pretty balanced take about a nuanced American icon

The book every Honduran should read

Someone recommended this book to me during dinner at a classic New York restaurant. He was a well-read man from the hospitality world, and when he found out I was from Honduras, he told me about a book that tells much of the story behind the United Fruit Company.

After reading the introduction and hearing the names of former presidents of my country appear in the narrative, I realized that the first fifty years of the 20th century in Honduras were deeply shaped by this extraordinary character.

Spending the last few weeks reading about his life and everything he accomplished has been fascinating. It is a story that, culturally and historically, every Honduran should know.

I highly recommend this book.