Overview

The Orchid Thief is the true story of John Laroche, an obsessed Florida plant dealer willing to go to any lengths to steal rare and protected wild orchids and clone them, all for a tidy profit. But the morality of Laroche's actions do not drive the narrative of Orlean's strange, compelling, and hilarious book. She is much more interested in the spectacle this unusual man creates through his actions, including one of the oddest legal controversies in recent memory, which brought together environmentalists, Native American activists, and devoted orchid collectors. She follows Laroche deep into Florida's swamps, tapping into not only the psyche of the deeply opinionated Laroche but also the wider subculture of orchid collectors, including aristocrats, fanatics, and smugglers whose obsession with plants is all-consuming. Orlean portrays the weirdness of it all in wonderful detail, but, ultimately, the book is primarily about passion itself and the amazing lengths to which people will go to gratify it.

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9781665170734

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Reviews

A swashbuckling piece of reporting that celebrates some virtues that made America great. -- Wall Street Journal Fascinating . . . an engrossing journey [full] of theft, hatred, greed, jealousy, madness, and backstabbing. -- Los Angeles Times

"""A swashbuckling piece of reporting that celebrates some virtues that made America great."" -- ""Wall Street Journal"" ""Fascinating . . . an engrossing journey [full] of theft, hatred, greed, jealousy, madness, and backstabbing."" -- ""Los Angeles Times"""

Author Information

Susan Orlean has been a staff writer at the New Yorker since 1992. She is the author of several books, including Rin Tin Tin, a New York Times bestseller, and The Orchid Thief, which was made into the Academy Award-winning film Adaptation. Anna Fields (1965-2006), winner of more than a dozen Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award in 2004, was one of the most respected narrators in the industry. Trained at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, she was also a director, producer, and technician at her own studio, Cedar House Audio.

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