Items related to The Orchid Thief : A True Story of Beauty and Obsession

The Orchid Thief : A True Story of Beauty and Obsession - Softcover

 
9780099289586: The Orchid Thief : A True Story of Beauty and Obsession
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
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"

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:
Orchidelirium is the name the Victorians gave to the flower madness that is for botanical collectors the equivalent of gold fever. Wealthy orchid fanatics of that era sent explorers (heavily armed, more to protect themselves against other orchid seekers than against hostile natives or wild animals) to unmapped territories in search of new varieties of Cattleya and Paphiopedilum. As knowledge of the family Orchidaceae grew to encompass the currently more than 60,000 species and over 100,000 hybrids, orchidelirium might have been expected to go the way of Dutch tulip mania. Yet, as journalist Susan Orlean found out, there still exists a vein of orchid madness strong enough to inspire larceny among collectors.

The Orchid Thief centers on south Florida and John Laroche, a quixotic, charismatic schemer once convicted of attempting to take endangered orchids from the Fakahatchee swamp, a state preserve. Laroche, a horticultural consultant who once ran an extensive nursery for the Seminole tribe, dreams of making a fortune for the Seminoles and himself by cloning the rare ghost orchid Polyrrhiza lindenii. Laroche sums up the obsession that drives him and so many others:

I really have to watch myself, especially around plants. Even now, just being here, I still get that collector feeling. You know what I mean. I'll see something and then suddenly I get that feeling. It's like I can't just have something--I have to have it and learn about it and grow it and sell it and master it and have a million of it.
Even Orlean--so leery of orchid fever that she immediately gives away any plant that's pressed upon her by the growers in Laroche's circle--develops a desire to see a ghost orchid blooming and makes several ultimately unsuccessful treks into the Fakahatchee. Filled with Palm Beach socialites, Native Americans, English peers, smugglers, and naturalists as improbably colorful as the tropical blossoms that inspire them, this is a lyrical, funny, addictively entertaining read. --Barrie Trinkle
From the Publisher:
"The best writers make you care about something you never noticed before. Susan Orlean is a perfect example...In a dry reporter's style, spiked with wit and charged with infectious enthusiasm, Orlean explains orchid biology and traces the history of orchid hunting, scattering surprises as she goes....An endearingly timid explorer who shudders each time she lowers herself into the teeming ooze of the Fakahatchee, Orlean is also an acute observer of the personalities and rivalries she encounters...Orlean allows accidental discoveries and encounters to dicate the book's peculiar, engrossing course."
        --Anna Mundow, The New York Daily News

"Orlean's hilariously reported, discursive narrative wanders off into Seminole history, real-estate fraud, stolen flora, and the scary, swampy Fakahatchee Strand. Just when you fear you're lost in the Everglades, she returns to the flower at hand, and unleashes some delirious prose....Orlean shows great restraint and never adopts an orchid--readers may not manage to be so cold-blooded."
        --Alexandra Lange, New York Magazine

"Artful...In Ms. Orlean's skillful handling, her orchid story turns out to be distinctly 'something more.' Getting to know Mr. Laroche allows her to explore multiple subjects: orchids, Seminole history, the ecology of the Fakahatchee Strand, the fascination of Florida to con men....All that she writes here fits together because it is grounded in her personal experience...acres of opportunity where intriguing things can be found."
        --Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times

"The collecting mania that Susan Orlean has so painstakingly described is, like the orchid, a small thing of grandeur, a passion with a pedigree...Stylishly written, whimsical yet sophisticated, quirkily detailed and full of empathy for a person you might not have thorugh about empethetically...The Orchid Thief shows her gifts in full bloom."
        --Ted Conover, The New York Times Book Review

"Orlean writes in a keenly observant mode reminiscent of John McPhee and Diane Ackerman....In prose as lush and full of surprises as the Fakahatchee itself, Orlean connects orchid-related excesses of the past with the exploits of the present so dramatically an orchid will never just be an orchid again."
        --Booklist

"Orlean is a beautiful writer, and her story is compelling even for those whose knowledge of orchids is limited to the long-ago prom corsage. The Orchid Thief is a lesson in the dark, dangerous, sometimes hilarious nature of obsession--any obsession. You sometimes don't want to read on, but find you can't help it."
        --Anita Manning, USA Today

"If you liked MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL, this new nonfiction work by Susan Orlean will hold you utterly spellbound. Like many orchids, it's a beautiful hybrid: part crime story (about orchid poaching in the wild swamps of Florida), part exotic read (about a fanatic society of flower breeders). Led by the title character, a charismatic plant smuggler, you'll journey with Orlean through a strangely fascinating, almost mystical subculture."
        --Glamour

"Readers suffering from the impeachment blues can start the new year right with The Orchid Thief, a swashbuckling piece of reporting that celebrates some virtues that made America great. Here are visionary passions and fierce obsessions; heroic settings; outsize characters, entrepreneurs on the edge of the frontier, adventurers seeking the bubble reputation....Ms. Orlean, an intrepid sociologist among the orchid fanatics, is also a poetic observer of the Fakahatchee swamp. There's an offhand brilliance in her accounts of its weird beauty and discomforts. But the most compelling sections of this fascinating book deal with the orchids themselves....Zestful."
        --Frances Taliaferro, The Wall Street Journal

"The landscapes of John Laroche and the state of Florida elicit some of Susan Orlean's best writing....her ear for self-skewing dialogue, her eye for the incongruous, convincing detail, and her Didion-like deftness in description....Such rapturous evocations are reason enough to read Orlean's book."
        --Dean Crawford, The Boston Globe

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherBallantine Books, Inc.
  • Publication date2000
  • ISBN 10 009928958X
  • ISBN 13 9780099289586
  • BindingPaperback
  • Number of pages288
  • Rating

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Orlean, Susan
Published by Ballantine Books, Inc. (2000)
ISBN 10: 009928958X ISBN 13: 9780099289586
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GF Books, Inc.
(Hawthorne, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. Seller Inventory # 009928958X-2-1

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 18.24
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Orlean, Susan
Published by Ballantine Books, Inc. (2000)
ISBN 10: 009928958X ISBN 13: 9780099289586
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Book Deals
(Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published. Seller Inventory # 353-009928958X-new

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 18.25
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Susan Orlean
Published by Vintage Publishing, London (2000)
ISBN 10: 009928958X ISBN 13: 9780099289586
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
Grand Eagle Retail
(Wilmington, DE, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. Intrigued by the case of a Florida flower-thief, Susan Orlean enters the extraordinary world of orchid-obsessives.Susan Orlean first met John Laroche when visiting Florida to write for the New Yorker about his arrest for stealing rare ghost orchids from a nature reserve. Fascinated both by Laroche and the world she uncovered of orchid collectors and growers, she stayed on, to write this magical exploration of obsession and the strange world both of the orchid obsessives and of Florida, that haunting and weird 'debatable land' of swamps and condos, retirement communities and real-estate scams.The world of the orchid hunters, breeders and showmen, their rivalries, vendettas and crimes, smuggling, thefts and worse provide the backdrop to a fascinating exploration of one of the byways of human nature, the obsessive world of the collector, and the haunting beauty of the flowers themselves. Fascinated both by Laroche and the world she uncovered of orchid collectors and growers, she stayed on, to write this magical exploration of obsession and the strange world both of the orchid obsessives and of Florida, that haunting and weird 'debatable land' of swamps and condos, retirement communities and real-estate scams. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780099289586

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 18.28
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Orlean Susan
Published by Random House (2000)
ISBN 10: 009928958X ISBN 13: 9780099289586
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Majestic Books
(Hounslow, United Kingdom)

Book Description Condition: New. pp. 368. Seller Inventory # 5854735

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 11.13
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 8.20
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Susan Orlean
ISBN 10: 009928958X ISBN 13: 9780099289586
New paperback Quantity: > 20
Seller:
Blackwell's
(Oxford, OX, United Kingdom)

Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780099289586

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 14.28
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 5.68
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Orlean, Susan
Published by Trafalgar Square (2000)
ISBN 10: 009928958X ISBN 13: 9780099289586
New Soft Cover Quantity: 1
Seller:
booksXpress
(Bayonne, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780099289586

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 24.79
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Susan Orlean
Published by Vintage (2000)
ISBN 10: 009928958X ISBN 13: 9780099289586
New Paperback Quantity: 9
Seller:
Monster Bookshop
(Fleckney, United Kingdom)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. BRAND NEW ** SUPER FAST SHIPPING FROM UK WAREHOUSE ** 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. Seller Inventory # 9780099289586-GDR

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 13.94
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 11.34
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Orlean, Susan
Published by Ballantine Books, Inc. (2000)
ISBN 10: 009928958X ISBN 13: 9780099289586
New Softcover Quantity: 6
Seller:
Ria Christie Collections
(Uxbridge, United Kingdom)

Book Description Condition: New. In. Seller Inventory # ria9780099289586_new

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 13.31
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 12.59
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Susan Orlean
Published by Vintage Publishing (2000)
ISBN 10: 009928958X ISBN 13: 9780099289586
New Paperback / softback Quantity: 9
Seller:
THE SAINT BOOKSTORE
(Southport, United Kingdom)

Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. Fascinated both by Laroche and the world she uncovered of orchid collectors and growers, she stayed on, to write this magical exploration of obsession and the strange world both of the orchid obsessives and of Florida, that haunting and weird 'debatable land' of swamps and condos, retirement communities and real-estate scams. Seller Inventory # B9780099289586

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 15.03
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 11.29
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Susan Orlean
Published by Vintage (2000)
ISBN 10: 009928958X ISBN 13: 9780099289586
New Paperback Quantity: 2
Seller:
Revaluation Books
(Exeter, United Kingdom)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 208 pages. 7.87x5.20x0.91 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __009928958X

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 13.70
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 12.62
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

There are more copies of this book

View all search results for this book