NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK In Susan Orlean's mesmerizing true story of beauty and obsession is John Laroche, a renegade plant dealer and sharply handsome guy, in spite of the fact that he is missing his front teeth and has the posture of al dente spaghetti. In 1994, Laroche and three Seminole Indians were arrested with rare orchids they had stolen from a wild swamp in south Florida that is filled with some of the world's most extraordinary plants and trees. Laroche had planned to clone the orchids and then sell them for a small fortune to impassioned collectors. After he was caught in the act, Laroche set off one of the oddest legal controversies in recent memory, which brought together environmentalists, Native Amer-ican activists, and devoted orchid collectors. The result is a tale that is strange, compelling, and hilarious. New Yorker writer Susan Orlean followed Laroche through swamps and into the eccentric world of Florida's orchid collectors, a subculture of aristocrats, fanatics, and smugglers whose obsession with plants is all-consuming. Along the way, Orlean learned the history of orchid collecting, discovered an odd pattern of plant crimes in Florida, and spent time with Laroche's partners, a tribe of Seminole Indians who are still at war with the United States. There is something fascinating or funny or truly bizarre on every page of The Orchid Thief: the story of how the head of a famous Seminole chief came to be displayed in the front window of a local pharmacy; or how seven hundred iguanas were smuggled into Florida; or the case of the only known extraterrestrial plant crime. Ultimately, however, Susan Orlean's book is about passion itself, and the amazing lengths to which people will go to gratify it. That passion is captured with singular vision in The Orchid Thief, a once-in-a-lifetime story by one of our most original journalists. Praise for The Orchid Thief “Stylishly written, whimsical yet sophisticated, quirkily detailed and full of empathy . . . The Orchid Thief shows [Orlean’s] gifts in full bloom.”—The New York Times Book Review “Fascinating . . . an engrossing journey [full] of theft, hatred, greed, jealousy, madness, and backstabbing.”—Los Angeles Times “Orlean’s snapshot-vivid, pitch-perfect prose . . . is fast becoming one of our national treasures.”—The Washington Post Book World “Orlean’s gifts [are] her ear for the self-skewing dialogue, her eye for the incongruous, convincing detail, and her Didion-like deftness in description.”—Boston Sunday Globe “A swashbuckling piece of reporting that celebrates some virtues that made America great.”—The Wall Street Journal
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"LaRoache is a fun character eh? Not nearly enough of him to fill an hour and a half though eh? This book was stolen from me twice, both times i got up to roughly page 87 and the book went missing. About 3 years later I managed to hold onto it long enough to finish. It was worth the collective $15 or so i spent on used copies."
— Fpat (5 out of 5 stars)
" I abandoned the book 1/3 of the way through. I was intrigued by the main character but could not, no matter how hard I tried, get interested enough in the orchid lessons to hang in there. "
— Kathleen, 2/6/2014" A really brilliant book. A wonderful weaving of ethnography, history, botany, and crazy-assed stories that made me feel as though I myself were waist-deep in muddy, alligator-infested swamp, searching for the ineffable. "
— Adrienne, 2/5/2014" I do not care nearly enough about orchids for this book to have been entertaining. "
— Steph, 1/30/2014" Interest true-life characters. I also learned a few things about orchids and Florida. "
— Patty, 1/29/2014" I couldn't seem to get into this book, and then it was going to be overdue, so I didn't read much of it. This is a shame, too, because I felt like everyone was depending on me to read this! I skipped this months bookclub because I didn't read it, and Alyson was interested in my response too. Ah, I'm such a disappointment ;( "
— Sarah, 1/27/2014" Great material, crumbled in the hands of this writer. "
— Katie, 1/16/2014" Turns out I didn't really want to read this after all. It is well-written and full of interesting tidbits about the crazy world of orchids. "
— Brigid, 1/14/2014" I like collecting and plants, but this wasn't really a page turner. "
— Nancy, 1/13/2014" As an orchid lover, this was a spectacular read. An intriguing story interwoven with gorgeous and vivid descriptions. Learned loads about Floridian flora and fauna. Also provided a fascinating history of orchidology and the lunacy of orchid fanatics. "
— Nina, 12/9/2013" I went straight out and bought an orchid. "
— D.L., 11/20/2013" Enjoyed this very much. Adventure and horticultural information all in one book. "
— Garden, 11/3/2013" Strange, great story. "
— Patty, 10/9/2013" DAMN THAT WAS A LOT OF PLANTS "
— Rachel, 9/14/2013" it really pulls you into seeing plant collectors in a different kind of light; i normally tend to stay away from nonfiction novels, but this was a good one. "
— Megan, 7/22/2013" The first few chapters were interesting, but then she went off on a tangent (important to the explanation of plants and things) and lost me. "
— Kelley, 2/23/2013" Very entertaining and I learned a lot about the history and mystique of the orchid "subculture." "
— Anita, 2/10/2013" Very interesting nonfiction. I'm going to rewatch Adaptation, which was inspired? by the book. "
— Kari, 1/9/2013" My favourite book ever! The movie based on this book is pretty cool too. "
— Joey, 10/19/2012" This is taking too long to read... ugh. "
— Anita, 1/16/2012" Interesting but I didn't love it. "
— Leonora, 10/26/2011" Read this to better understand the Charlie Kaufman scriot for Adaptation, and what he had to work with for that script. Interesting anecdotes, but yeah, a whole lot of New York hoo ha. "
— Rafael, 8/24/2011" I honestly did not think that a book about orchids would be this intriguing. "
— Anna, 5/18/2011" I was very surprised by how much I learned from this book without my realizing it. Who knew that the orchid world was so dramatic? "
— Deborah, 5/18/2011" Nobody does Florida quite like Susan Orlean. "
— Robin, 4/17/2011" As to be expected, this book taught me a lot about orchids. I went out and purchased an orchid after finishing it! "
— Jenn, 4/13/2011" Although some of her long-winded paragraphs drove me mad, this was a generally interesting piece of non-fiction.<br/><br/> "
— William, 4/6/2011" One of my favourite books, although it is a little light on story. A fascinating read full of flow. I do, however, love orchids, so I may be biased. "
— Melanie, 3/31/2011" This is a fascinating story about one of the many fringe hobbyists and eccentrics one rarely hears about or crosses paths with in communities across the world. "
— Michelle, 3/4/2011" I picked this book for my book club to read, and still get ribbed about it to this day. I rather enjoyed it. The book was certainly far superior to its movie, Adaptation, even though the movie did win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Chris Cooper, who deserved it for so many other roles. "
— Susan, 2/26/2011" While I continued to turn the pages and found this book pretty engrossing, I didn't love it. I really didn't like any of the characters. "
— M, 2/19/2011" Excellent writing and a fascinating story. Some of my favorite books are those about little-known things such as salt, cod, orchids--that reach out and affect or participate in history in ways you wouldn't expect. "
— Lindsey, 2/13/2011Susan Orlean has been a staff writer at the New Yorker since 1992. She is the New York Times bestselling author of several books, including The Library Book, Rin Tin Tin, and Saturday Night, as well as The Orchid Thief, which was made into the Academy Award–winning film Adaptation. She lives with her family and her animals in Los Angeles and may be reached at SusanOrlean.com and on Twitter @SusanOrlean.
Jennifer Jay Myers is an award-winning voice-over artist. She graduated from Northwestern University where she studied singing and acting and then moved to New York to pursue musical theater. Myers has appeared in many shows including Nunsense, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Godspell, Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?, and Fiddler on the Roof, among others. When she’s not working, she volunteers with animal rescue. She and her husband, writer Chris Grabenstein, share their home with four wonderful rescued animals (three cats and a dog).