Book review: Banana, by Lorna Piatti-Farnell

Abstract

The problem with many food books is that most fall somewhere on the spectrum between a science-based molecular-level examination to a frivolous opinion-giving once-over-lightly treatment. Occasionally, a food book comes along that manages to hit every point on that spectrum, offering a veritable banquet of intellectual nourishment, while stopping short of the frivolous extremity of my scale. Banana is just such a book. Part science, part popular culture, part history, part global trade study and part study of mythology (even including a compelling discussion about whether the apple in the story of Adam and Eve was actually a banana), this book manages to cover each area without doing a disservice to any.