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The Fish That Ate the Whale’s preface concludes,“If you want to understand the spirit of our nation, the good and the bad, you can enroll in college, sign up for classes, take notes and pay tuition, or you can study the life of Sam the Banana Man”(p. xiii). Rich Cohen’s biography of Samuel (the Banana Man) Zemurray, a Russian who immigrated to America penniless in 1891 and amassed personal and corporate wealth over five decades in the corporate fruit business, blends literary journalism with historical analysis. While Zemurray’s story is markedly different from college courses, Cohen’s book illuminates the good and the bad of being successful, something educators should be teaching public relations students.

While informative, textbooks can be forgettable and costly; a well-researched popular biography, especially if its stories relate well to a course, can be compelling, memorable, and affordable content. A …