What is the powerful cultural significance of mangoes to contemporary Hispanic American writers? How does the strange sex life of figs relate to literature? Why are bananas the humorous fruit par excellence, and how are grapefruits anomalous among the citruses?

Literary episodes featuring fruit are pervasive across genre and cultural tradition, occurring in the Bible, modern and contemporary literature, and everywhere in between. Robert Palter provides a meticulously researched and beautifully illustrated account of this phenomenon. The Duchess of Malfi's Apricots, and Other Literary Fruits...