The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce and Obsession

Journalist Gollner finds endless summer in his travels around the world seeking strange and luscious fruit at the very peak of quality. Alas for the rest of us, the best is always local, but Gollner shares his experiences so vividly it's almost like being there. Almost. Check out his description of the miracle fruit, which turns sour flavors sweet, and has, incidentally, done wonders for the sales of this little berry: "Where at first I could barely lick the puckeringly tart African lemon without wincing, now I'm gulping it down, licking up the juice on my chin. Even the bits on my teeth are ecstatically sweet, like liquefied filaments of pure joy. My head is swimming. Neurons never-before activated are firing up my central cortex. I greedily eat up the whole lemon, detecting hints of crystallized grapes and berries. While it isn't exactly 12345 Center of the Sun Avenue, it's definitely psychedelic." The charm of Gollner's debut isn't just his sensuous, hip and funny writing style, or the infectious enthusiasm that will have readers longing to race off to Borneo for a soccer-ball sized tarap, which tastes like a "fully constructed dessert," or a mangosteen or a chempedak or, Borneo's most notorious fruit, the durian, a custardy delicacy with a smell so noxious a Manhattan tasting party emptied the building. No, there's more. Gollner ferrets out the real fruit hunters, those who have dedicated their lives to fruits. These are an odd and varied bunch, from seriously fanatical scientists and growers to those who believe a pure fruit diet will lead to Nirvana, super wealthy hobbyists who indulge their passion by smuggling, and schemers who inject apples with grape flavor to produce grapples. The fruit world is apparently rife with talented nuts. Gollner gets behind the politics of fruit - the buzz around miracle fruit's potential in the sweetener market and the sudden FDA ban that brought it all to naught; the reasons, from destructive pests to protectionism, that many fruits are banned from our borders, and the origin of the banana republic. He delves into the marketing and shipping and consequent dearth of quality in our supermarket fruit; he explores health-giving properties and legends; he introduces varieties we never could even imagine like the lady fruit, which grows only in the Seychelles, has oversized parts which look like human genitalia and takes 7 years to produce a mature fruit. He explores the world of fruit crime, from smuggling to money laundering, and the role of humans in producing the finest fruits. Fruit biology, history, even fruit intelligence, weaves through this entertaining, informative, even riveting narrative. Readers will look forward to tagging along on Gollner's next adventure.

When I ran across this title at Barnes and Noble, I assumed it was a Mark Kurlansky type treatment of the subject, erudite and educational, but not really my cup of tea. Boy was I wrong! I had googled miracle fruit since I had done some research on the subject, and I found that there was a chapter in this book on that subject. I went right out and bought a copy, read the chapter. I had no idea of the real story behind miracle fruit (which, by the way, is experiencing skyrocketing prices thanks to this book). I read the rest of the book. Adam has a quirky sense of humor which translates very well in writing. Anyone that is interested in ethnobotany, fruit, plants or just a great summer read on the beach should buy the book. Let's hope Mr. Gollner is working on his next book.

I picked up this exotic zinger at an airport on the way to Buenos Aires. Let me first recommend that you do not read this book without at least a bowl of fruit or fruit salad in arm's range. Or a tutti frutti lollipop at least. I can only describe this book in almost synesthetic terms. The story is delicious, the writing is like a confection of candied apples, each word dipped in miracle fruit. I highly urge you to pick up this scrumptious cocktail for your summer reading. It's perfect for the beach. You'll never taste words the same way again.

First of all I have to say that I'm not a big fruit eater. I like the taste of most fruits, but the ones I buy in the supermarket are waxy, bland, and have textures that don't correspond to how I think the fruit looks. I was reading an early posting of the Sunday New York Times book review last week and I came across Mary Roach's review of this book. The review was so outstanding that it made me want to explore the book, even though I'm not particularly inclined to fruit or nature writing. The next day I went out and bought the book and read it almost in one sitting. I was transfixed, to say the least. And hungry: Gollner's book made me want to jump on a plane to Brazil and find all the marvelous fruits that he wrote about, fruits that made my mind spin and mouth salivate. Who knew there were such delightful things such as the "bran muffin" fruit? Reading this book is feels like an illicit glimpse into the Garden of Eden. Gollner is a great writer: funny, brisk, informative without being too didactic. His pacing and narrative abilities are excellent; what could have been a dull book about colorful things reads like a thriller at times. This book to me a little like the exotic fruits Gollner so vividly and lovingly describes: it's a rare pleasure that I'm lucky I discovered.

Adam Leith Gollner's new book The Fruit Hunters (2008) is like a sweet and sour jawbreaker---- a tasty treat with many layers to enjoy, never knowing which flavour comes next. Anyone who loves exotic fruit and adventures in far off places will savour this book and all of its fruit-filled wanderings. I once had the opportunity to eat cottony guanabana in Costa Rica, and to sip dragonfruit juice in Vietnam.... Now that I am strapped to my desk, and limited to munching on banal fruits like apples and oranges, I greatly appreciated being able to travel to far-off places with Gollner as he explored fruit hunting stomping grounds like Brazil and the Congo. Gollner's writing is an intriguing mix of delicate prose and hipster slang--a modern style that is entertaining and thoughtful. I would highly recommend this captivating and informative book to anyone who is a fruit bat like me; it's full of fun fruit-filled history and trivia (and has an excellent index for double-checking fruit facts). If, like me, you are still eating your way through all of the recent and exciting food-focused books like Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation (2001), Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire (2001) & The Omnivore's Dilemma (2006), and Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (2008), this book makes a sweet addition to your forays into agriculture, food production, shady food histories and politics, and the commodity chains that land things in our grocery carts, our fruit bowls, and our bellies. So... prepare a nice dish of salted green mangoes and settle down with The Fruit Hunters--you will not be disappointed!