
The Fish That Ate the Whale
The Life and Times of America's Banana King
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $14.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Robertson Dean
-
By:
-
Rich Cohen
About this listen
Named a Best Book of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle and The Times-Picayune
The fascinating untold tale of Samuel Zemurray, the self-made 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 the grandest house in New Orleans sixty-nine years later, he was among the richest, most powerful men in the world. Working his way up from a roadside fruit peddler to conquering the United Fruit Company, Zemurray became a symbol of the best and worst of the United States: proof that America is the land of opportunity, but also a classic example of the corporate pirate who treats foreign nations as the backdrop for his adventures.
Zemurray lived one of the great untold stories of the last hundred years. Starting with nothing but a cart of freckled bananas, he built a sprawling empire of banana cowboys, mercenary soldiers, Honduran peasants, CIA agents, and American statesmen. From hustling on the docks of New Orleans to overthrowing Central American governments and precipitating the bloody thirty-six-year Guatemalan civil war, the Banana Man lived a monumental and sometimes dastardly life. Rich Cohen's brilliant historical profile The Fish That Ate the Whale unveils Zemurray as a hidden power broker, driven by an indomitable will to succeed.
©2012 Rich Cohen (P)2024 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
How to Make a Few Billion Dollars
- By: Brad Jacobs
- Narrated by: Brad Jacobs
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In How to Make a Few Billion Dollars, Jacobs defines the mindset that drives his remarkable success in corporate America—and distills a lifetime of business brilliance into a tactical road map.
-
-
Meh
- By Anonymous User on 09-24-24
By: Brad Jacobs
-
Play Nice but Win
- A CEO's Journey from Founder to Leader
- By: Michael Dell, James Kaplan
- Narrated by: Michael Dell
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1984, soon-to-be college dropout Michael Dell hid signs of his fledgling PC business in the bathroom of his University of Texas dorm room. Almost 30 years later, at the pinnacle of his success as founder and leader of Dell Technologies, he found himself embroiled in a battle for his company’s survival. What he’d do next could ensure its legacy — or destroy it completely.
-
-
Not perfect, but worth a listen
- By James S. on 11-09-21
By: Michael Dell, and others
-
The Adventures of Herbie Cohen
- World's Greatest Negotiator
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Paul Adelstein
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Herbie Cohen, World’s Greatest Negotiator, dealmaker, risk taker, raconteur, adviser to presidents and corporations, hostage and arms negotiator, lesson giver and justice seeker, author of the how-to business classic You Can Negotiate Anything. And, of course, Rich Cohen’s father.
-
-
A Hilarious Book of Real People
- By Quanlin Guo on 05-15-25
By: Rich Cohen
-
American Rascal
- How Jay Gould Built Wall Street's Biggest Fortune
- By: Greg Steinmetz
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Had Jay Gould put his name on a university or concert hall, he would undoubtedly have been a household name today. The son of a poor farmer whose early life was marked by tragedy, Gould saw money as the means to give his family a better life…even if, to do so, he had to pull a fast one on everyone else.
-
-
Questionable
- By Stan on 07-19-23
By: Greg Steinmetz
-
Four Seasons
- The Story of a Business Philosophy
- By: Isadore Sharp
- Narrated by: Jeff Semple
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How did a child of immigrants, starting with no background in the hotel business, create the world's most admired and successful hotel brand? And how has Four Seasons grown so dramatically, over nearly half a century, without losing its focus on exceptional quality and unparalleled service? Isadore Sharp answers these questions in his inspiring memoir. He started out in Toronto, the son of a modest builder from Poland, but ambition and fate rapidly took him beyond his father's three-man construction business.
-
-
The Golden Rule
- By CamiBeltran on 05-19-25
By: Isadore Sharp
-
Invention
- A Life of Learning Through Failure
- By: James Dyson
- Narrated by: James Dyson
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Famously, over a four-year period, James Dyson made 5,127 prototypes of the cyclonic vacuum cleaner that would transform the way houses are cleaned around the world. In devoting all his resources to iteratively developing the technology, he risked it all, but out of many failures and setbacks came hard-fought success. In Invention: A Life, Dyson reveals how he came to set up his own company and led it to become one of the most inventive technology companies in the world. It is a compelling and dramatic tale, with many obstacles overcome.
-
-
Inspiring
- By Shogun on 09-25-21
By: James Dyson
-
How to Make a Few Billion Dollars
- By: Brad Jacobs
- Narrated by: Brad Jacobs
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In How to Make a Few Billion Dollars, Jacobs defines the mindset that drives his remarkable success in corporate America—and distills a lifetime of business brilliance into a tactical road map.
-
-
Meh
- By Anonymous User on 09-24-24
By: Brad Jacobs
-
Play Nice but Win
- A CEO's Journey from Founder to Leader
- By: Michael Dell, James Kaplan
- Narrated by: Michael Dell
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1984, soon-to-be college dropout Michael Dell hid signs of his fledgling PC business in the bathroom of his University of Texas dorm room. Almost 30 years later, at the pinnacle of his success as founder and leader of Dell Technologies, he found himself embroiled in a battle for his company’s survival. What he’d do next could ensure its legacy — or destroy it completely.
-
-
Not perfect, but worth a listen
- By James S. on 11-09-21
By: Michael Dell, and others
-
The Adventures of Herbie Cohen
- World's Greatest Negotiator
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Paul Adelstein
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Herbie Cohen, World’s Greatest Negotiator, dealmaker, risk taker, raconteur, adviser to presidents and corporations, hostage and arms negotiator, lesson giver and justice seeker, author of the how-to business classic You Can Negotiate Anything. And, of course, Rich Cohen’s father.
-
-
A Hilarious Book of Real People
- By Quanlin Guo on 05-15-25
By: Rich Cohen
-
American Rascal
- How Jay Gould Built Wall Street's Biggest Fortune
- By: Greg Steinmetz
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Had Jay Gould put his name on a university or concert hall, he would undoubtedly have been a household name today. The son of a poor farmer whose early life was marked by tragedy, Gould saw money as the means to give his family a better life…even if, to do so, he had to pull a fast one on everyone else.
-
-
Questionable
- By Stan on 07-19-23
By: Greg Steinmetz
-
Four Seasons
- The Story of a Business Philosophy
- By: Isadore Sharp
- Narrated by: Jeff Semple
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How did a child of immigrants, starting with no background in the hotel business, create the world's most admired and successful hotel brand? And how has Four Seasons grown so dramatically, over nearly half a century, without losing its focus on exceptional quality and unparalleled service? Isadore Sharp answers these questions in his inspiring memoir. He started out in Toronto, the son of a modest builder from Poland, but ambition and fate rapidly took him beyond his father's three-man construction business.
-
-
The Golden Rule
- By CamiBeltran on 05-19-25
By: Isadore Sharp
-
Invention
- A Life of Learning Through Failure
- By: James Dyson
- Narrated by: James Dyson
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Famously, over a four-year period, James Dyson made 5,127 prototypes of the cyclonic vacuum cleaner that would transform the way houses are cleaned around the world. In devoting all his resources to iteratively developing the technology, he risked it all, but out of many failures and setbacks came hard-fought success. In Invention: A Life, Dyson reveals how he came to set up his own company and led it to become one of the most inventive technology companies in the world. It is a compelling and dramatic tale, with many obstacles overcome.
-
-
Inspiring
- By Shogun on 09-25-21
By: James Dyson
-
Socrates
- A Man for Our Times
- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed historian and best-selling author Paul Johnson’s books have been translated into dozens of languages. In Socrates: A Man for Our Times, Johnson draws from little-known resources to construct a fascinating account of one of history’s greatest thinkers. Socrates transcended class limitations in Athens during the fifth century B.C. to develop ideas that still shape the way we think about the human body and soul, including the workings of the human mind.
-
-
Plat-Soc-Paul
- By Megasaurus on 11-17-12
By: Paul Johnson
-
When Montezuma Met Cortes
- The True Story of the Meeting That Changed History
- By: Matthew Restall
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1519, the Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortés first met Montezuma, the Aztec emperor, at the entrance to the capital city of Tenochtitlan. This introduction - the prelude to the Spanish seizure of Mexico City and to European colonization of the mainland of the Americas - has long been the symbol of Cortés' bold and brilliant military genius. Montezuma, on the other hand, is remembered as a coward who gave away a vast empire and touched off a wave of colonial invasions across the hemisphere. But is this really what happened?
-
-
Flawed, but worth it for those interested.
- By "J" on 02-16-18
By: Matthew Restall
-
The Nvidia Way
- Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant
- By: Tae Kim
- Narrated by: Michael Braun
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nvidia is the darling of the age of artificial intelligence: the company’s chips are powering the generative-AI revolution, and demand is insatiable. For all the current interest and attention, however, Nvidia is not of our time. Founded more than three decades ago in a Denny’s in East San Jose, for years it was known primarily in the then-niche world of computer gaming. In fact, the company’s leather-jacketed leader, Jensen Huang, is the longest-serving CEO in an industry marked by near constant turmoil and failure.
-
-
Don’t Buy This Book Be Forewarned
- By Susan Hess on 12-25-24
By: Tae Kim
-
Shadow Divers
- The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II
- By: Robert Kurson
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1991, acting on a tip from a local fisherman, two scuba divers discovered a sunken German U-boat, complete with its crew of 60 men, not too far off the New Jersey coast. The divers, realizing the momentousness of their discovery, began probing the mystery. Over the next six years, they became expert and well-traveled researchers, taught themselves German, hunted for clues in Germany, and constructed theories corrective of the history books, all in an effort to identify this sunken U-boat and its crew.
-
-
GRIPPING!
- By Douglas on 07-03-04
By: Robert Kurson
-
Sam Walton
- Made in America
- By: John Huey, Sam Walton
- Narrated by: Henry Strozier
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet a genuine American folk hero cut from the homespun cloth of America's heartland: Sam Walton, who parlayed a single dime store in a hardscrabble cotton town into Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world. The undisputed merchant king of the late 20th century, Sam never lost the common touch. Here, finally, inimitable words. Genuinely modest, but always sure of his ambitions and achievements. Sam shares his thinking in a candid, straight-from-the-shoulder style. In a story rich with anecdotes and the "rules of the road" of both Main Street and Wall Street, Sam Walton chronicles the inspiration, heart, and optimism that propelled him to lasso the American Dream.
-
-
Capitalism Is The Way
- By Nathan Ruff on 04-14-19
By: John Huey, and others
-
Key Person of Influence
- The Five-Step Method to Become One of the Most Highly Valued and Highly Paid People in Your Industry
- By: Daniel Priestley
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney
- Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every industry revolves around Key People of Influence. Their names come up in conversation. They attract opportunities. They earn more money. Many people think it takes decades of hard work, academic qualifications and a generous measure of good luck to become a Key Person of Influence. This audiobook shows you that there is a five-step strategy for fast-tracking your way to the inner circle of the industry you love. Your ability to succeed depends on your ability to influence. Start now by listening to this audiobook.
-
-
Decent read
- By Mark C. Manderson on 07-12-19
By: Daniel Priestley
-
The First Tycoon
- The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
- By: T.J. Stiles
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 28 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A gripping, groundbreaking biography of the combative man whose genius and force of will created modern capitalism. Founder of a dynasty, builder of the original Grand Central, creator of an impossibly vast fortune, Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt is an American icon. Humbly born on Staten Island during George Washington’s presidency, he rose from boatman to builder of the nation’s largest fleet of steamships to lord of a railroad empire.
-
-
Great! If you can get through it...
- By john on 08-08-10
By: T.J. Stiles
-
Think Like a Billionaire
- By: James Altucher
- Narrated by: James Altucher
- Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James Altucher, the noted entrepreneur, venture capitalist, bestselling author of Choose Yourself, and host of the podcast The James Altucher Show—which has over 40 million downloads—has interviewed 15 of the most successful people in the world to figure out just what makes them tick. And the conclusions might surprise you. From the founder of Spanx to the entrepreneur behind Home Depot, from a craft beer aficionado to the investors on Shark Tank, these visionaries honed their ideas and creativity, and used what they loved as a compass to guide their curiosity.
-
-
hear it from the mouths of the billionaires
- By Davers on 04-04-24
By: James Altucher
-
The Outsiders
- Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
- By: William N. Thorndike
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Outsiders, you'll learn the traits and methods striking for their consistency and relentless rationality that helped these unique leaders achieve such exceptional performance. Humble, unassuming, and often frugal, these "outsiders" shunned Wall Street and the press, and shied away from the hottest new management trends. Instead, they shared specific traits that put them and the companies they led on winning trajectories: a laser-sharp focus on per share value as opposed to earnings or sales growth; an exceptional talent for allocating capital and human resources; and the belief that cash flow, not reported earnings, determines a company's long-term value.
-
-
Great summary of the 8 CEOs, lessons to learn from
- By Jason S on 09-04-19
-
When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead
- Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man
- By: Jerry Weintraub, Rich Cohen, George Clooney - foreword
- Narrated by: Jerry Weintraub
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is the story of Jerry Weintraub: the self-made, Brooklyn-born, Bronx-raised impresario, Hollywood producer, legendary deal maker, and friend of politicians and stars. No matter where nature has placed him - the club rooms of Brooklyn, the Mafia dives of New York's Lower East Side, the wilds of Alaska, or the hills of Hollywood - he has found a way to put on a show and sell tickets at the door.
-
-
Great stories!
- By Myles on 12-31-14
By: Jerry Weintraub, and others
-
F-35
- The Inside Story of the Lightning II
- By: Tom Burbage, Betsy Clark, Adrian Pitman, and others
- Narrated by: Rob Reider
- Length: 17 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
F-35 is the only inside look at the most advanced aircraft in the world and the historic project that built it, as told by those who were intimately involved in its design, testing, and production. Based on the authors' personal experience and over 100+ interviews, F-35 pulls back the curtain on one of the most heavily criticized government programs in history from start to finish.
-
-
Corporate Propaganda
- By Kindle Customer on 10-04-24
By: Tom Burbage, and others
-
Becoming Trader Joe
- How I Did Business My Way and Still Beat the Big Guys
- By: Joe Coulombe, Patty Civalleri - contributor
- Narrated by: Mark Smeby
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joe Coulombe founded what would become Trader Joe’s in the late 1960s and helped shape it into the beloved, quirky food chain it is today. Realizing early on that he could not compete and win by playing the same game his bigger competitors were playing, he decided to build a store for educated people of somewhat modest means. In this way, Joe laid down a blueprint for other business owners to follow to build their own unique shopping experience that customers love, and a work environment that employees love being a part of.
-
-
Many mispronunciations
- By Maria Francesca on 06-26-21
By: Joe Coulombe, and others
Critic reviews
“This is a rollicking but brilliantly researched book about one of the most fascinating characters of the twentieth century. I grew up in New Orleans enthralled by tales of Sam Zemurray, the banana peddler who built United Fruit. This book recounts, with delightful verve, his military and diplomatic maneuvers in Central America and his colorful life and business practices.”—Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute and author of Steve Jobs
“Cohen ... gives us the fascinating tale of ‘Sam the Banana Man,' a poor Russian Jew who emigrated to Alabama as a teenager and ended up controlling much of Central America . . . Rich Cohen books constitute a genre unto themselves: pungent, breezy, vividly written psychodramas about rough-edged, tough-minded Jewish machers who vanquish their rivals, and sometimes change the world in the process. Within this specialized context, Cohen's Zemurray biography admirably fills the bill.”—Mark Lewis, The New York Times Book Review
“Absorbing, nimble and unapologetically affectionate . . . Mr. Cohen is a wonderfully visceral storyteller . . . it's a magnificent, crazy story, engagingly told.”—Aaron Gell, New York Observer
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
On Character
- Choices That Define a Life
- By: General Stanley McChrystal
- Narrated by: General Stanley McChrystal
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How to measure a life? After a career of service, retired four-star general Stanley McChrystal had much to contemplate. He pondered his successes and failures, his beliefs and aspirations, and asked himself, Who am I, really? And more importantly, who have I become? When I die, how will I be measured? In the end, McChrystal came to a conclusion as simple as it was profound: the reality of who we are cannot be recorded in dates or accomplishments. It is found in our character—the most accurate, and last full measure, of who we choose to be.
-
-
Excellent , absolutely thought proving
- By D on 05-17-25
-
Tough Jews
- Fathers, Sons, and Ganster Dreams
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Rich Cohen
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning writer Rich Cohen excavates the real stories behind the legend of infamous criminal enforcers Murder, Inc. and contemplates the question: Where did the tough Jews go?
-
-
Had the physical but wanted to listen.....
- By Alednam A Uonopk on 09-19-24
By: Rich Cohen
-
When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead
- Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man
- By: Jerry Weintraub, Rich Cohen, George Clooney - foreword
- Narrated by: Jerry Weintraub
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is the story of Jerry Weintraub: the self-made, Brooklyn-born, Bronx-raised impresario, Hollywood producer, legendary deal maker, and friend of politicians and stars. No matter where nature has placed him - the club rooms of Brooklyn, the Mafia dives of New York's Lower East Side, the wilds of Alaska, or the hills of Hollywood - he has found a way to put on a show and sell tickets at the door.
-
-
Great stories!
- By Myles on 12-31-14
By: Jerry Weintraub, and others
-
The Last Pirate of New York
- A Ghost Ship, a Killer, and the Birth of a Gangster Nation
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos, Rich Cohen
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Handsome and charismatic, Albert Hicks had long been known in the dive bars and gin joints of the Five Points, the most dangerous neighborhood in maritime Manhattan. For years, he operated out of the public eye, rambling from crime to crime, working on the water in ships, sleeping in the nickel-a-night flops, drinking in barrooms where rat-baiting and bear-baiting were great entertainments. Rich Cohen tells the story of this notorious underworld figure, from his humble origins to the wild, globe-crossing, bacchanalian crime spree that forged his ruthlessness and his reputation.
-
-
Should have been a simple story of a murderer
- By Buretto on 08-12-19
By: Rich Cohen
-
Sweet and Low
- A Family Story
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Rich Cohen
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sweet and Low is the amazing, bittersweet, hilarious story of an American family and its patriarch, a short-order cook named Ben Eisenstadt who, in the years after World War II, invented the sugar packet and Sweet'N Low, converting his Brooklyn cafeteria into a factory and amassing the great fortune that would destroy his family.
-
-
Smart, thought-provoking book
- By Paul on 08-14-12
By: Rich Cohen
-
Sherman
- Soldier, Realist, American
- By: B.H. Liddell Hart
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A biography of William T. Sherman by the military theorist and author of Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon.
-
-
Perfect performance for an American icon
- By Jeff Lacy on 08-29-20
-
On Character
- Choices That Define a Life
- By: General Stanley McChrystal
- Narrated by: General Stanley McChrystal
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How to measure a life? After a career of service, retired four-star general Stanley McChrystal had much to contemplate. He pondered his successes and failures, his beliefs and aspirations, and asked himself, Who am I, really? And more importantly, who have I become? When I die, how will I be measured? In the end, McChrystal came to a conclusion as simple as it was profound: the reality of who we are cannot be recorded in dates or accomplishments. It is found in our character—the most accurate, and last full measure, of who we choose to be.
-
-
Excellent , absolutely thought proving
- By D on 05-17-25
-
Tough Jews
- Fathers, Sons, and Ganster Dreams
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Rich Cohen
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning writer Rich Cohen excavates the real stories behind the legend of infamous criminal enforcers Murder, Inc. and contemplates the question: Where did the tough Jews go?
-
-
Had the physical but wanted to listen.....
- By Alednam A Uonopk on 09-19-24
By: Rich Cohen
-
When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead
- Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man
- By: Jerry Weintraub, Rich Cohen, George Clooney - foreword
- Narrated by: Jerry Weintraub
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is the story of Jerry Weintraub: the self-made, Brooklyn-born, Bronx-raised impresario, Hollywood producer, legendary deal maker, and friend of politicians and stars. No matter where nature has placed him - the club rooms of Brooklyn, the Mafia dives of New York's Lower East Side, the wilds of Alaska, or the hills of Hollywood - he has found a way to put on a show and sell tickets at the door.
-
-
Great stories!
- By Myles on 12-31-14
By: Jerry Weintraub, and others
-
The Last Pirate of New York
- A Ghost Ship, a Killer, and the Birth of a Gangster Nation
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos, Rich Cohen
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Handsome and charismatic, Albert Hicks had long been known in the dive bars and gin joints of the Five Points, the most dangerous neighborhood in maritime Manhattan. For years, he operated out of the public eye, rambling from crime to crime, working on the water in ships, sleeping in the nickel-a-night flops, drinking in barrooms where rat-baiting and bear-baiting were great entertainments. Rich Cohen tells the story of this notorious underworld figure, from his humble origins to the wild, globe-crossing, bacchanalian crime spree that forged his ruthlessness and his reputation.
-
-
Should have been a simple story of a murderer
- By Buretto on 08-12-19
By: Rich Cohen
-
Sweet and Low
- A Family Story
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Rich Cohen
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sweet and Low is the amazing, bittersweet, hilarious story of an American family and its patriarch, a short-order cook named Ben Eisenstadt who, in the years after World War II, invented the sugar packet and Sweet'N Low, converting his Brooklyn cafeteria into a factory and amassing the great fortune that would destroy his family.
-
-
Smart, thought-provoking book
- By Paul on 08-14-12
By: Rich Cohen
-
Sherman
- Soldier, Realist, American
- By: B.H. Liddell Hart
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A biography of William T. Sherman by the military theorist and author of Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon.
-
-
Perfect performance for an American icon
- By Jeff Lacy on 08-29-20
-
The Adventures of Herbie Cohen
- World's Greatest Negotiator
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Paul Adelstein
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Herbie Cohen, World’s Greatest Negotiator, dealmaker, risk taker, raconteur, adviser to presidents and corporations, hostage and arms negotiator, lesson giver and justice seeker, author of the how-to business classic You Can Negotiate Anything. And, of course, Rich Cohen’s father.
-
-
A Hilarious Book of Real People
- By Quanlin Guo on 05-15-25
By: Rich Cohen
-
Boom
- Bubbles and the End of Stagnation
- By: Byrne Hobart, Tobias Huber
- Narrated by: Rob Grannis
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A timely investigation of the causes of technological and scientific stagnation, and a radical blueprint for accelerating innovation. From the Moon landing to the dawning of the atomic age, the decades prior to the 1970s were characterized by the routine invention of transformative technologies at breakneck speed. By comparison, ours is an age of stagnation. Median wage growth has slowed, inequality and income concentration are on the rise, and scientific research has become increasingly expensive and incremental.
-
-
Interesting perspective
- By Brent D Brookbush on 02-24-25
By: Byrne Hobart, and others
-
Banana
- The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World
- By: Dan Koeppel
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Banana combines a pop-science journey around the globe, a fascinating tale of an iconic American business enterprise, and a look into the alternately tragic and hilarious banana subculture (one does exist) - ultimately taking us to the high-tech labs where new bananas are literally being built in test tubes, in a race to save the world's most beloved fruit.
-
-
Very Good Book - History, Science, and Economics
- By Jose on 11-08-17
By: Dan Koeppel
-
Her Lotus Year
- China, the Roaring Twenties, and the Making of Wallis Simpson
- By: Paul French
- Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before she was the Duchess of Windsor, Bessie Wallis Warfield was Mrs. Wallis Spencer, wife of Earl “Win” Spencer, a US Navy aviator. From humble beginnings in Baltimore, she rose to marry a man who gave up his throne for her. But what made Wallis Spencer, Navy Wife, the woman who could become the Duchess of Windsor? The answers lie in her one-year sojourn in China. In her memoirs, Wallis described her time in China as her “Lotus Year,” referring to Homer’s Lotus Eaters, a group living in a state of dreamy forgetfulness, never to return home.
-
-
An interesting new look at Wallis Simpson
- By boleyn1532 on 12-09-24
By: Paul French
-
Titan
- The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 35 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Titan is the first full-length biography based on unrestricted access to Rockefeller’s exceptionally rich trove of papers. A landmark publication full of startling revelations, the book indelibly alters our image of this most enigmatic capitalist. Born the son of a flamboyant, bigamous snake-oil salesman and a pious, straitlaced mother, Rockefeller rose from rustic origins to become the world’s richest man by creating America’s most powerful and feared monopoly, Standard Oil. Branded "the Octopus" by legions of muckrakers, the trust refined and marketed nearly 90 percent of the oil produced in America.
-
-
He makes Bill Gates look like a Pauper!
- By Rick on 11-04-13
By: Ron Chernow
-
Chaos Monkeys - Revised Edition
- Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley
- By: Antonio Garcia Martinez
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of Silicon Valley’s most audacious chaos monkeys is Antonio García Martínez. After stints on Wall Street and as CEO of his own startup, García Martínez joined Facebook’s nascent advertising team. Forced out in the wake of an internal product war over the future of the company’s monetization strategy, García Martínez eventually landed at rival Twitter. In Chaos Monkeys, this gleeful contrarian unravels the chaotic evolution of social media and online marketing and reveals how it is invading our lives and shaping our future.
-
-
Best Non-fiction (and entertaining frolic) I’ve listened to in years!
- By Martha Mangan on 09-22-19
-
Billion Dollar Loser
- The Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of Adam Neumann and WeWork
- By: Reeves Wiedeman
- Narrated by: Will Collyer
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This inside story of WeWork and its CEO tells the remarkable saga of one of the most audacious, and improbable, rises and falls in American business history. Veteran journalist Reeves Weideman dives deep into WeWork and its CEO's astronomical rise, from the marijuana and tequila-filled board rooms to cult-like company summer camps and consciousness-raising with Anthony Kiedis. Billion Dollar Loser is a character-driven business narrative that captures, through the fascinating psyche of a billionaire founder and his wife and co-founder, the slippery state of global capitalism. \
-
-
Engrossing and we’ll researches but narration is annoying
- By ceire Gleeson on 10-27-20
By: Reeves Wiedeman
-
Shadow Divers
- The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II
- By: Robert Kurson
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1991, acting on a tip from a local fisherman, two scuba divers discovered a sunken German U-boat, complete with its crew of 60 men, not too far off the New Jersey coast. The divers, realizing the momentousness of their discovery, began probing the mystery. Over the next six years, they became expert and well-traveled researchers, taught themselves German, hunted for clues in Germany, and constructed theories corrective of the history books, all in an effort to identify this sunken U-boat and its crew.
-
-
GRIPPING!
- By Douglas on 07-03-04
By: Robert Kurson
-
Murder in the Dollhouse
- The Jennifer Dulos Story
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rich Cohen’s Murder in the Dollhouse is the chilling story of Jennifer Dulos, a beautiful, rich suburban mother who dropped her kids off at the New Canaan Country School one morning and vanished. Her body has never been found. Dulos was in the midst of an ugly divorce—one of the most contentious in Connecticut state history. The couple, a beautiful, highly connected pair, met at Brown University, had five children, and led what appeared to be a charmed life. In the wake of her disappearance, Dulos’s husband and his girlfriend were arrested.
-
-
I love the author
- By richard on 05-29-25
By: Rich Cohen
-
Grinding It Out
- The Making of McDonald's
- By: Ray Kroc, Robert Anderson
- Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few entrepreneurs can claim to have radically changed the way we live, and Ray Kroc is one of them. His revolutions in food-service automation, franchising, shared national training, and advertising have earned him a place beside the men and women who have founded not only businesses, but entire empires. But even more interesting than Ray Kroc the business man is Ray Kroc the man. Not your typical self-made tycoon, Kroc was 52 years old when he opened his first franchise.
-
-
great book annoying narration
- By Brandon on 12-20-18
By: Ray Kroc, and others
-
Am I Being Too Subtle?
- The Adventures of a Business Maverick
- By: Sam Zell
- Narrated by: Sam Zell
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Self-made billionaire Sam Zell consistently sees what others don't. From finding a market for overpriced Playboy magazines among his junior high classmates, to buying real estate on the cheap after a market crash, to investing in often unglamorous industries with long-term value, Zell acts boldly on supply and demand trends to grab the first-mover advantage. And he can find opportunity virtually anywhere - from an arcane piece of legislation to a desert meeting in Abu Dhabi.
-
-
Excellent story, but ....
- By David K. Robbins on 08-06-17
By: Sam Zell
-
Four Seasons
- The Story of a Business Philosophy
- By: Isadore Sharp
- Narrated by: Jeff Semple
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How did a child of immigrants, starting with no background in the hotel business, create the world's most admired and successful hotel brand? And how has Four Seasons grown so dramatically, over nearly half a century, without losing its focus on exceptional quality and unparalleled service? Isadore Sharp answers these questions in his inspiring memoir. He started out in Toronto, the son of a modest builder from Poland, but ambition and fate rapidly took him beyond his father's three-man construction business.
-
-
The Golden Rule
- By CamiBeltran on 05-19-25
By: Isadore Sharp
Fascinating!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The story telling, the writing, Sam's early amd midlife in the banana industry.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really intriguing story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Phenomenal
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A worthwhile story indeed.
What a life?!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The More You Know...
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent history
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.