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Usually ships in 1-2 business days | | Only 3 left in stock, order soon! | | | | | | Charles Nicholl is on a quest for "The Great Cocaine Story." The time is the early eighties and the place...Colombia. The story actually begins twelve years earlier in the tiny, scruffy seaport town of Santa Marta, described by some as "a victim of its privileged geographic location." "The town had the feel of a tropical smugglers' den. It was a rakish, seedy, avaricious little place, but somehow exhilarating in the way it lived according to its own laws." The Fruit Palace, a dismal whitewashed café that legally dispenses tropical fruit juices, has another purpose as the meeting place for a variety of black market activities and the place where Nicholl unwittingly begins his quest. He returns to Colombia in 1983 "on assignment." His research is thorough, the risks he takes are serious, and characters he encounters--colorful, cranky and always looking older than their years--are so thoroughly fleshed out, you almost forget you're reading nonfiction. Nicholl survives dangerous encounters with powerful drug lords, fever, earthquake, solo treks through treacherous jungles--all to deliver this decadent and compelling journey through the cocaine underworld of Colombia. | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Author: | Charles Nicholl | | Paperback: | 307 pages | | Publisher: | Vintage | | Publication Date: | September 06, 1994 | | Language: | English | | ISBN: | 0679743642 | | Package Length: | 7.9 inches | | Package Width: | 5.2 inches | | Package Height: | 0.8 inches | | Package Weight: | 0.6 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 9 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 9 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 An Exploration Into Colombia's Underground Cocaine Industry Apr 04, 2005
By WritinCanuck@Yahoo.ca
"Owen"
'The Fruit Palace' is no romp through the woods, rather it is a valiant (if idiotic) push through a river of information to see who can survive to the other side by a half-informed journalist with an ego problem- which he addresses several times in the book. Charles Nicholl had spent some time living in Colombia before being set on a chase by his young, naïve publisher after The Great Cocaine Story, but he knew he was unprepared for this. He had smoked some basuko (half-processed cocaine) and snorted a bit of yay here and there recreationally, bur he knew he was getting himself into something he couldn't handle. This misadventure guides him across Colombia, from the cities to the jungles to the deserts, all in the search of a mysterious cocaine distributor known as 'Snow White'. It is a marvellous book, very well-written and surprisingly true, and I recommend you buy a used copy immediately.
By the way... Despite what some of the other reviewers said, this is NOT, repeat NOT a travel book, it is if anything a true adventure story.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
What a great book! Apr 20, 1999
By Awed Listener
I adore this book! I've read it several times and have given copies to everyone I know -- that is, I did so until it went out of print and I could no longer find it. What idiot publisher made that decision? This is one of the greatest travel books of all time. My bookshelves are not complete without my very own copy. Please find me one! (P.S. It's a slice of life in Colombia, in South America, not Central America, as another reader claims.)
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
laconic, illegal lifestyle makes for fast, gritty read. Sep 14, 1998
By Eli Golub (mcexample@earthlink.net)
I just finished this book. It took me three days to read. My only complaint would be that it actually comes to an end. A good ending, too. Mr. Nicholl doesn't thump you down like he's done with you, nor does he leave you hanging. I really liked the thoroughness he uses dealing with a totally illegal business. It's an honest and interesting look at something that no one is supposed to be doing, yet the industry has enormous breadth. He covers that span, all the way from the dirty two-bit street dealers up to the capos, the guys no one ever sees. He took a lot of risk researching it, and I actually started sweating while I read one tense scene. I enjoyed the whole thing.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
A great companion for your trip to Columbia... Jul 13, 1999
I first read this book several years ago whilst travelling through Columbia and could hardly put it down. All the travellers that I met were asking for copies and it has taken on an almost cult status down there. The book is very well written and adds an extra dimension for those intending to take time out and explore this wonderful country. I can't believe that it's out of print!
3 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 The Tale of the Cocaine Trail Jan 20, 2000
By Rufus Turner
This was a very interesting book about Columbia, a bizarre bit of journalism involving drugs and a mad celtic friend of his who lives in Columbia.It describes Columbia very well whilst having an almost novel-like grip as a result of the underlying reason for him being there and also for some of the things that he did. He describes well the culture of Columbia at the time. It might have changed. He also compares how it had changed from when he was there 12 years previously. Overall a gripping book that took me less than 4 days to read as I was so entranced in it.
See all 9 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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