
The Fish That Ate the Whale
The Life and Times of America's Banana King
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Narrated by:
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Robertson Dean
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By:
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Rich Cohen
About this listen
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.
©2012 Rich Cohen (P)2024 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“This is a rollicking but brilliantly researched book about one of the most fascinating characters of the twentieth century. I grew up in New Orleans enthralled by tales of Sam Zemurray, the banana peddler who built United Fruit. This book recounts, with delightful verve, his military and diplomatic maneuvers in Central America and his colorful life and business practices.”—Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute and author of Steve Jobs
“Cohen ... gives us the fascinating tale of ‘Sam the Banana Man,' a poor Russian Jew who emigrated to Alabama as a teenager and ended up controlling much of Central America . . . Rich Cohen books constitute a genre unto themselves: pungent, breezy, vividly written psychodramas about rough-edged, tough-minded Jewish machers who vanquish their rivals, and sometimes change the world in the process. Within this specialized context, Cohen's Zemurray biography admirably fills the bill.”—Mark Lewis, The New York Times Book Review
“Absorbing, nimble and unapologetically affectionate . . . Mr. Cohen is a wonderfully visceral storyteller . . . it's a magnificent, crazy story, engagingly told.”—Aaron Gell, New York Observer
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- Unabridged
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Titan is the first full-length biography based on unrestricted access to Rockefeller’s exceptionally rich trove of papers. A landmark publication full of startling revelations, the book indelibly alters our image of this most enigmatic capitalist. Born the son of a flamboyant, bigamous snake-oil salesman and a pious, straitlaced mother, Rockefeller rose from rustic origins to become the world’s richest man by creating America’s most powerful and feared monopoly, Standard Oil. Branded "the Octopus" by legions of muckrakers, the trust refined and marketed nearly 90 percent of the oil produced in America.
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He makes Bill Gates look like a Pauper!
- By Rick on 11-04-13
By: Ron Chernow
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The Tiger
- A True Story of Vengeance and Survival
- By: John Vaillant
- Narrated by: John Vaillant
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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It’s December 1997, and a man-eating tiger is on the prowl outside a remote village in Russia’s Far East. The tiger isn’t just killing people, it’s annihilating them, and a team of men and their dogs must hunt it on foot through the forest in the brutal cold. As the trackers sift through the gruesome remains of the victims, they discover that these attacks aren’t random: The tiger is apparently engaged in a vendetta. Injured, starving, and extremely dangerous, the tiger must be found before it strikes again.
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Thy Fearful Symmetry
- By Mel on 02-16-13
By: John Vaillant
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Central America's Forgotten History
- Revolution, Violence, and the Roots of Migration
- By: Aviva Chomsky
- Narrated by: Aida Reluzco
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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At the center of the current immigration debate are migrants from Central America fleeing poverty, corruption, and violence in search of refuge in the United States. In Central America’s Forgotten History, Aviva Chomsky answers the urgent question “How did we get here?” Centering the centuries-long intertwined histories of US expansion and indigenous and Central American struggles against inequality and oppression, Chomsky highlights the pernicious cycle of colonial and neocolonial development policies.
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Outline of a rigged game
- By Buretto on 02-07-22
By: Aviva Chomsky
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Banana
- The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World
- By: Dan Koeppel
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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Very Good Book - History, Science, and Economics
- By Jose on 11-08-17
By: Dan Koeppel
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Shadow Divers
- The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II
- By: Robert Kurson
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1991, acting on a tip from a local fisherman, two scuba divers discovered a sunken German U-boat, complete with its crew of 60 men, not too far off the New Jersey coast. The divers, realizing the momentousness of their discovery, began probing the mystery. Over the next six years, they became expert and well-traveled researchers, taught themselves German, hunted for clues in Germany, and constructed theories corrective of the history books, all in an effort to identify this sunken U-boat and its crew.
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GRIPPING!
- By Douglas on 07-03-04
By: Robert Kurson
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Letters to His Son, 1746-1747
- On the Fine Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman
- By: Lord Chesterfield
- Narrated by: David Thorn
- Length: 1 hr and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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The first set of an extraordinary collection of 10 sets of personal letters written by Lord Chesterfield to his illegitimate son, young Philip Stanhope, then living abroad with his tutor to further his education. His Lordship, later secretary of state, hoped that his son would follow in his footsetps and took endless pains to instruct him on the essential and finer beharioral traits of a the aristocracy, which might lead him to such dizzying heights.
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This book is a classic.
- By Anonymous User on 04-16-24
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The Adventures of Herbie Cohen
- World's Greatest Negotiator
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Paul Adelstein
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Meet Herbie Cohen, World’s Greatest Negotiator, dealmaker, risk taker, raconteur, adviser to presidents and corporations, hostage and arms negotiator, lesson giver and justice seeker, author of the how-to business classic You Can Negotiate Anything. And, of course, Rich Cohen’s father.
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Lots of fun and rewarding
- By John H. on 07-28-24
By: Rich Cohen
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The Banana Wars
- A Captivating Guide to the Interventions of the United States in Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean (US Military History)
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Jason Saffir
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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This audiobook is about the Banana Wars that lasted from the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 until Franklin Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy of 1934. When you listen to this story, you’ll learn how and why the US marines invaded Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. You’ll also learn how the US Marines occupied and ruled Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic for years.
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Solid Highlights Reel Through the Region
- By Allie on 02-03-25
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Tightwads and Spendthrifts
- Navigating the Money Minefield in Real Relationships
- By: Scott Rick
- Narrated by: Stacy Carolan
- Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Have you ever asked yourself “What if I’m a tightwad and my significant other is a spendthrift?” or vice versa? Scott Rick, a behavioral scientist at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, knows that many people do. He also knows that the financial aspects of an intimate relationship can become a money minefield if couples try to navigate it without first discussing all of the financial issues between them, especially if those two people have different approaches to spending.
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Find the podcast instead
- By Rebecca J. Burge on 09-15-24
By: Scott Rick
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Four Seasons
- The Story of a Business Philosophy
- By: Isadore Sharp
- Narrated by: Jeff Semple
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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How did a child of immigrants, starting with no background in the hotel business, create the world's most admired and successful hotel brand? And how has Four Seasons grown so dramatically, over nearly half a century, without losing its focus on exceptional quality and unparalleled service? Isadore Sharp answers these questions in his inspiring memoir. He started out in Toronto, the son of a modest builder from Poland, but ambition and fate rapidly took him beyond his father's three-man construction business.
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Decent Business Book
- By Allena on 04-17-25
By: Isadore Sharp
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When the Game Was War
- The NBA's Greatest Season
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The 1980s were a transformative decade for the NBA. Since its founding in 1946, the league had evolved from a bruising, earthbound game of mostly nameless, underpaid players to one in which athletes became household names for their thrilling, physics-defying play. The 1987–88 season was the peak of that golden era, a year of incredible drama that featured a pantheon of superstars in their prime—the most future Hall of Famers competing at one time in any given season—battling for the title, and for their respective legacies.
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Phil Jackson accuses Red Auerbach of cheap tactics
- By Sean on 01-03-24
By: Rich Cohen
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Billion Dollar Loser
- The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork
- By: Reeves Wiedeman
- Narrated by: Will Collyer
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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This inside story of WeWork and its CEO tells the remarkable saga of one of the most audacious, and improbable, rises and falls in American business history. Veteran journalist Reeves Weideman dives deep into WeWork and its CEO's astronomical rise, from the marijuana and tequila-filled board rooms to cult-like company summer camps and consciousness-raising with Anthony Kiedis. Billion Dollar Loser is a character-driven business narrative that captures, through the fascinating psyche of a billionaire founder and his wife and co-founder, the slippery state of global capitalism. \
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Engrossing and we’ll researches but narration is annoying
- By ceire Gleeson on 10-27-20
By: Reeves Wiedeman
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How to Make a Few Billion Dollars
- By: Brad Jacobs
- Narrated by: Brad Jacobs
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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In How to Make a Few Billion Dollars, Jacobs defines the mindset that drives his remarkable success in corporate America—and distills a lifetime of business brilliance into a tactical road map.
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Meh
- By Anonymous User on 09-24-24
By: Brad Jacobs
What listeners say about The Fish That Ate the Whale
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-17-25
Fascinating!
Everything! Don’t judge a book by its cover! Who would of thoughts bananas gangsters existed!
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- Ann
- 01-17-25
Phenomenal
Wonderfully written. A phenomenal business biography on par with Chernow’s Titan and Caro’s Power Broker.
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- Carla Pittman
- 04-02-25
The story telling, the writing, Sam's early amd midlife in the banana industry.
I liked the speaker and his pacing. Well executed. I disliked that the story had to come to an end.
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- DDM
- 12-31-24
Really intriguing story
Very engaging + inspiring, yet a good cautionary tale. Pretty balanced take about a nuanced American icon
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- Stephanie M. Hasty
- 01-02-25
The More You Know...
I love a great biography...I love a well researched microhistory. This book is both and it tells of an America built on grit, and, well unbridled capitalism. Who knew that bananas were so exciting?!
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- A. SOS
- 12-16-24
What a life?!
A fascinating tale from a bygone era. Sam Zemurray led a compete life - from the jungles of the isthmus in Central America to the elite of corporate America intersecting w the apex of government.
A worthwhile story indeed.
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- Michelle M. Leblanc
- 04-02-25
Excellent history
I highly recommend this read. Leading the banana story and the banana man’s story is well worth the listen.
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