"The novel''s scenes are compact and eventful, and itssentences direct and percussive. The hardboiled depiction of extremelawlessness invites comparisons to Graham Greene. And like Phil Klay''soutstanding novel "Missionaries" (2020), also about America''s interventions inColombia''s civil unrest, the realistic story doubles as a kind of allegory ofmodern war, in which alliances and rationales are fluid, money is primary andviolence generates more violence. "It was transgression to be alive," Orejasthinks in a particularly infernal scene, and there is a sense in this powerfulnovel that freedom from sin is only truly granted to the dead." -- Wall StreetJournal " Grim yet affecting.This war story stands out for itsheartrending portrait of the conflict''s impact on individual lives."-- Publishers Weekly "Grostephan traces the shifting fortunes of severalcharacters in 1990s Colombia . a harrowing tale of survival at increasinglybrutal costs.
" -- Kirkus Reviews "Here is a novel in which dead men still speak ''for not even the dead shut their mouths.'' The Banana Wars is as fine a novel as Juan Rulfo''s Pedro Páramo or Fernanda Melchor''s Hurricane Season . Alan Grostephan''s prose is devastatingly precise, with a beauty that arises--perversely--only from horrifying situations. I have not read anything as fine as The Banana Wars in ages." --Michelle Latiolais, author of Widow and She "In Urabá, Columbia, the banana trade is an extremely violent and unsettling history, one that Grostephan resists sugarcoating. Unlike an actual banana, there is nothing banal or mild about The Banana Wars . Told from several compelling perspectives, this novel is blistering, unflinching, and hard to put down." --Jen Beagin, author of Big Swiss and Vacuum in the Dark "Don''t let banana in this title alleviate war in any way for you.
From its opening quote by A.S. Ramos to its final chapter, Alan Grostephan''s THE BANANA WARS is a riveting and indispensable novel that hails life as monumental, and the only force of the Universe worth talking about--fuck all them Riders of the Apocalypse! It just so happens that life burns brightest when its opposing forces are present and Grostephan knows this well; he is marvelous at detail, an engrossing storyteller and a deep feeler to boot. What a book! It was both a surprise and a balm for this war-torn heart and mind to read it." --Ismet Prcic, author of Shards and Unspeakable Home "I dare you to enjoy a banana split after you''ve read AlanGrostephan''s gut-wrenching novel The Banana Wars. Vividlywritten, unforgettably peopled, ranging across a landscape at once horrific andsublime, The Banana Wars will wring you out, leaving you at onceexhausted and enriched, the way every good book exacts something from you evenas it feeds your soul." -Angel Khoury, bestselling author of BetweenTides "A searing account of the ongoing consequences of colonialpower structures in Colombia. What strikes me about The Banana Wars isthe keen, journalistic eye and the refusal to look away from the lives andpower struggles of everyday people--guerillas, paramilitary soldiers, sexworkers, plantation owners and their backers overseas--all of whom are trappedin a brutal system of exploitation and madness.
" -Blair Austin, author of Dioramas "Alan Grostephan writes with lush exuberance as though hewere a Garcia Marquez''s nephew. Confidently the narrative follows severalpeople, switching POVs along the way, so we have a nearly omniscientpicture of the class warfare, crime, and the mystery centered around the magicfruit, and at the same time intimate and sensual details. Cinematic. Eachsentence delights." -Josip Novakovich, author of Rubble of Rubles.