About the book
Samuel Zemurray arrived in America in 1891 tall, gangly and penniless, and died sixty-nine years later in New Orleans, in the city's grandest house, as one of the richest men in the world. Rich Cohen tells how he rose from selling bananas by the roadside to taking over the United Fruit Company. Along the way Zemurray assembled an empire of CIA agents, Honduran peasants, mercenary soldiers, American statesmen and banana cowboys, helped overthrow Central American governments and set off Guatemala's thirty-six-year civil war. Cohen presents him as a hidden power broker, at once proof of American opportunity and a corporate pirate who treated foreign nations as a backdrop.
Ryan Holiday said the book drew him in completely and led him to study Zemurray further and use his story in his own next book. Benjamin Spall, co-author of My Morning Routine, called it a reminder of how good non-fiction writing can be.
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This book has 2 recommendations
Ryan Holiday (Founder/Brass Check)
The book sucked me in completely. The subject, Samuel Zemurray, is fascinating and compelling. The writer has a voice that is utterly unique. Since reading this book, I have explored all of this further: I studied Zemurray (whose house was not far from mine in New Orleans and still stands) and am using his story in my next book. I interviewed the author, Rich Cohen. And I read his other books, am particularly found of Tough Jews: Fathers, Sons and Gangster Dreams. The book has all sorts of things going for it: it’s the American Dream, it’s history via microcosm, it’s drama/violence/intrique, and it’s a course in business strategy and leadership. Everyone I have recommended it to was blown away. I won’t say it’s as good as The Tiger, which was my favorite book of 2011, but in terms of an author I’d never heard of taking a subject I don’t care about and making it AWESOME? This book deserves to be talked about in the same breath.
Benjamin Spall (Co-author/My Morning Routine)
I loved The Fish That Ate the Whale by Rich Cohen. Not only is it a fascinating story, Cohen's writing is a reminder of just how great non-fiction writing can be if you truly care about it.
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