The Fish That Ate the Whale
The Life and Times of America's Banana King
by Rich Cohen
6 more
More Recommenders
“14/ And so it was that Samuel Zemurray, a penniless immigrant, came to own and run one of the most powerful companies in the world. If you're interested in learning more, I recommend this book by @richcohen2003. It is one of my favorites of all time! | @BrentBeshore Love that book. | @lex_node Read the book. The fish that ate the whale. Crazy!! | Sucked me in completely. Everyone I?ve recommended it to loves it. | Sucked me in completely. Everyone I’ve recommended it to loves it.”
Source →“14/ And so it was that Samuel Zemurray, a penniless immigrant, came to own and run one of the most powerful companies in the world. If you're interested in learning more, I recommend this book by @richcohen2003. It is one of my favorites of all time! | @BrentBeshore Love that book. | @lex_node Read the book. The fish that ate the whale. Crazy!! | Sucked me in completely. Everyone I?ve recommended it to loves it. | Sucked me in completely. Everyone I’ve recommended it to loves it.”
Source →“14/ And so it was that Samuel Zemurray, a penniless immigrant, came to own and run one of the most powerful companies in the world. If you're interested in learning more, I recommend this book by @richcohen2003. It is one of my favorites of all time! | @BrentBeshore Love that book. | @lex_node Read the book. The fish that ate the whale. Crazy!! | Sucked me in completely. Everyone I?ve recommended it to loves it. | Sucked me in completely. Everyone I’ve recommended it to loves it.”
Source →“14/ And so it was that Samuel Zemurray, a penniless immigrant, came to own and run one of the most powerful companies in the world. If you're interested in learning more, I recommend this book by @richcohen2003. It is one of my favorites of all time! | @BrentBeshore Love that book. | @lex_node Read the book. The fish that ate the whale. Crazy!! | Sucked me in completely. Everyone I?ve recommended it to loves it. | Sucked me in completely. Everyone I’ve recommended it to loves it.”
Source →“14/ And so it was that Samuel Zemurray, a penniless immigrant, came to own and run one of the most powerful companies in the world. If you're interested in learning more, I recommend this book by @richcohen2003. It is one of my favorites of all time! | @BrentBeshore Love that book. | @lex_node Read the book. The fish that ate the whale. Crazy!! | Sucked me in completely. Everyone I?ve recommended it to loves it. | Sucked me in completely. Everyone I’ve recommended it to loves it.”
Source →“14/ And so it was that Samuel Zemurray, a penniless immigrant, came to own and run one of the most powerful companies in the world. If you're interested in learning more, I recommend this book by @richcohen2003. It is one of my favorites of all time! | @BrentBeshore Love that book. | @lex_node Read the book. The fish that ate the whale. Crazy!! | Sucked me in completely. Everyone I?ve recommended it to loves it. | Sucked me in completely. Everyone I’ve recommended it to loves it.”
Source →Recommended by 8 notable people, including Nat Eliason and Ryan Holiday
Check price on AmazonProof-backed recommendation
Amazon availability
Should I read this?
Recommended by 13 sources and appears in Best Biographies, Books Recommended by Ryan Holiday, and Most Recommended Books.
Named a Best Book of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle and The TimesPicayune The fascinating untold tale of Samuel Zemurray, the selfmade 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 ...
Looking for Kindle, hardcover, paperback, or audiobook editions?
Check formats, pricing, and current availability directly.
Why recommended
Recommended by 13 sources and appears in Best Biographies, Books Recommended by Ryan Holiday, and Most Recommended Books.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
Ryan Holiday
Author and media strategist
“14/ And so it was that Samuel Zemurray, a penniless immigrant, came to own and run one of the most powerful companies in the world. If you're interested in learning more, I recommend this book by @richcohen2003. It is one of my favorites of all time! | @BrentBeshore Love that book. | @lex_node Read the book. The fish that ate the whale. Crazy!! | Sucked me in completely. Everyone I?ve recommended it to loves it. | Sucked me in completely. Everyone I’ve recommended it to loves it.”
View sources (4) ▾80%
Appears In
Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider Accidental Presidents by Jared Cohen. Recommended by 10 sources.
“Accidental Presidents offers eight narrative portraits of men who succeeded to the U.S. presidency without election, using anecdote-rich scenes and readable context to show how personality and circumstance interact with office power. It’s strongest as a set of self-contained stories that make succession stakes concrete for non-specialist readers; it does not prioritize dense archival argument or exhaustive methodology, so expect some interpretive generalizations and repeated themes across cases. Use it for fast historical orientation rather than scholarly deep-dives.”
Similar books
How recommendation signals are reviewed
Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.