New York Times Hearts Fruit Hunters

The New York Times Book Review on Sunday
calls The Fruit Hunters ‘jaw-dropping,’ ‘lustrous,’ and ‘exhilarating.’

Some choice excerpts:

“The coconut is technically a fruit, and every now and then it grows a pearl. The pearl – bearing coconut is one of some 30 surprising fruits that caused me to pencil an exclamation mark in the margins of “The Fruit Hunters”… Adam Leith Gollner possesses a talent as rare and exotic as a coconut pearl… Gollner’s is not the sort of talent one can develop. It is genetic, physical – an exquisite sensitivity of tongue, nose and eye… At one point early in the book, the author explains how it’s possible to graft branches of different, say, citrus species onto one plant. A Chilean farmer, he writes, recently made headlines with a tree that bears plums, peaches, cherries, apricots, almonds and nectarines. It’s how I see Gollner: the talents of a food writer, investigative journalist, poet, travel writer and humorist grafted onto one unusual specimen. Long may he thrive.”

Some other fun stories here:

The Montreal Gazette

The Calgary Herald

The Globe and Mail

Entertainment Weekly

and the cover story for the Montreal Hour

There will also be a three-part excerpt in the National Post on Monday, Tuesday and Wedsnesday.