Banana Wars

Winner of the Dzanc Prizefor FictionUrab, Colombia, 1990: A violent strike at plantationsacross the banana zone leads to crops in flames, managers murdered, and the localeconomy teetering on the brink. In retaliation, the banana producers financeright-wing paramilitaries to cleanse the zone of guerrillas and their supposedcollaborators.Through the intertwined lives of fourcharactersa banana worker making a play for power in the guerrillas, adecadent Colombian banana planter who runs his business from the safety ofMedelln, a widow in Urab struggling to stay on the right side of the localparamilitaries, and an American banana executive wading ever deeper intotroubled watersThe Banana Wars chartsthe struggle to survive in impossible conditions, in a place where no one is tobe trusted and one false move can lead to death.Starkly drawn from the true history of Urab andthis period of conflict, including the unseen role of US corporate interests,celebrated author Alan Grostephans latest is an incandescent historical novelfor fans of Jesmyn Ward, Roberto Bolao, and Fernanda Melchor.