Who was Sam Zemurray?
Where did he come from? Where did he go? What did he do? If you do not know all
of the answers to these questions, you will be in for a true surprise. For
starters, he was the son of a Jewish wheat farmer in Bessarabia (present-day Moldavia).
After his father's death, he emigrated to the United States, specifically
Selma, Alabama. Not content with the status quo, Sam went on to bigger and
better things: bananas! He started out with "ripes", bananas too ripe
to reach market in time. Then he moved on to trading in green bananas from
Central America which fared better. His next step was to buy land in Central
America, specifically Honduras, and streamline the banana growing business.
Lastly, he took over the United Fruit Company, one of the most notorious or
glorious companies of the first half of the 20th century, depending on how you
look at it. Along the way, you will come across military coups, bribery,
colorful characters who seem like they came out of a novel or movie and the
colorful public and private life of Sam Zemurray, a constant overshadowing
theme throughout the book.
I advise you to hold
onto your seats when you start reading this book, because Rich Cohen takes off
at a gallop and never slows to ensure the reader that there is never a dull
moment. I took the time to read some of the reviews on this book Amazon, and there
is a tendency to criticize Mr. Cohen's role in this book, especially how he
uses the first person and, to the taste of some, conjectures too much about
Zemurray. Even though some of this may be true, I particularly champion the
author's style. The way I see it, there probably wasn't a lot of factual,
objective information about Zemurray's life, his private life in particular. So
what Mr. Cohen artfully did was to breathe life into the skeleton of Sam the
Banana Man. I would equate this strategy to colorizing a black and white photo.
You have to guess the original colors, but with common sense and a creative
bent, you can approximate the original colors. In fact, you may color the photo
better than if it truly had been a color photo. I think that if the author had
stuck to his research, the plain facts, this book would have read like an
encyclopedia article: dull, boring and lackluster.
If you have read any
other books about United Fruit or the banana trade as I have, you will be
pleased by the fact that this book is not academic in the sense that the
language is scholarly and filled with footnotes. The author's tone is somewhere
between academic and casual, and he really wants you to participate in this
tale of business and adventure. You won't find yourself standing on the
sidelines; you'll be in the ring with the author and Zemurray and the other
characters. Though I wouldn't classify it as an easy read, if you stick with
it, you will be rewarded by an insightful, entertaining and unique experience. You
can also use this book as a springboard to delve into the banana trade,
politics, Central America and many other issues.
Click here to buy the
book.
