The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

See Larger Image	List Price: $14.00 Our Price: $11.20 Your Save: $ 2.80 ( 20% ) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Manufacturer: Ballantine Books Written By: Susan Orlean Average Customer Rating:
Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 635.934409759 EAN: 9780449003718 ISBN: 044900371X Label: Ballantine Books Manufacturer: Ballantine Books Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 320 Publication Date: 2000-01-04 Publisher: Ballantine Books Release Date: 2000-01-04 Studio: Ballantine Books
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Editorial Reviews: A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK A modern classic of personal journalism, The Orchid Thief is Susan Orlean’s wickedly funny, elegant, and captivating tale of an amazing obsession. From Florida’s swamps to its courtrooms, the New Yorker writer follows one deeply eccentric and oddly attractive man’s possibly criminal pursuit of an endangered flower. Determined to clone the rare ghost orchid, Polyrrhiza lindenii, John Laroche leads Orlean on an unforgettable tour of America’s strange flower-selling subculture, along with the Seminole Indians who help him and the forces of justice who fight him. In the end, Orlean–and the reader–will have more respect for underdog determination and a powerful new definition of passion. Praise for The Orchid Thief: “Fascinating . . . tales of theft, hatred, greed, jealousy, madness, and backstabbing . . . an engrossing journey.” –Los Angeles Times “Irresistible . . . a brilliantly reported account of an illicit scheme to housebreak Florida’s wild and endangered ghost orchid . . . Its central figure is John Laroche, the ‘oddball ultimate’ of a subculture whose members are so enthralled by orchids they ‘pursue them like lovers.’ ” –Minneapolis Star Tribune “Artful . . . in Ms. Orlean’s skillful handling, her orchid story turns out to be distinctly ‘something more.’ . . . [Her] portrait of her sometimes sad-making orchid thief allows the reader to discover acres of opportunity where intriguing things can be found.” –The New York Times “Zestful . . . a swashbuckling piece of reporting that celebrates some virtues that made America great.” –The Wall Street Journal “Deliciously weird . . . compelling.” –Detroit Free Press
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Not what one would expect... Comment: So the movie of Adaptation was amazing and the overall story within this book is good, the themes and ideas hidden in there are good, but the writing, not so good. I was rather disappointed by the extreme lack of decent writing here. This book was not a pleasure to read at all. It opened up with a little mock interview that Susan gave to herself and it was really kind of bad, not creative, and sounds like it was written by a 16 creative writing student. All I can say is that the story was a good idea, the longing in some of parts was wonderful, but the writing, I am not a fan of. Customer Rating: Summary: Fascinating Reading Comment: Truly fascinating reading. A friend encouraged me to read this after I became interested in and purchased several orchids at a recent orchid show. This book is an engaging journey through the history of orchids and orchid collecting as well as a revealing introduction to the often mysterious and sometimes elusive people who have been drawn to and fascinated by orchids over time. If you have an interest in orchids, do yourself the favor of reading this well-written and meticulously researched work. In fact, even if you do not have an interest in orchids you will find this book well worth your time. You may learning something of yourself in the process of reading it. Customer Rating: Summary: The Orchid thief Comment: Excellent story,great writer and terrific subject matter for anyone interested in Orchids or the State of Florida and some of it's history. Customer Rating: Summary: No Title Comment: Pretty quick read because it is totally, utterly engrossing. Orlean has a wonderful writing style, and a knack for just the right amount of metaphors and similes. Plus terrific descriptive abilities. Every bit as wonderful as the film "Adaptation" which was made from this book. I really liked this non-fiction book about obsession, collectors, orchids, plants, all things in southern Florida. She gets to the heart of a true collectors mind. La Rouche an unforgettable person. She makes us "see" him. To paraphrase one unforgettable line - "I hate hiking in the swamp with convicts who have machetes." Customer Rating: Summary: Fishes, orchids, or anything we are intrigued by... Comment: This book reminded me of a story about the 'fishes': Curious about North Americans before moving to North America, friends of mine did all they could to meet a North American. He was quiet when they were discussing life with universal categories. When asked about what he is most interested in, the North American lightened up and told them everything he knew about the fishes, his hobby. He was experiencing, interpreting and loving life through fishes (or orchids, or anything that we are deeply intrigued by), and my friends heard the most interesting story, told with love, passion and knowledge, and remained quiet and speechless for a long time. The "Orchid Thief" is a fascinating book, and I truly loved all aspects of this journey - the visual language, the historical references, the characters and the whole gamut of their emotions. Some short stories though, were told long in the book, which makes you feel the fatigue in these parts of the narration. More Reviews