The Orchid Thief

A True Story of Beauty and Obsession

By: Susan Orlean

Narrated by: Jennifer Meyers

Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

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

©1998 Susan Orlean (P)2001 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“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

geeky obsession

very interesting, I learned something new about plants, orchids are very obsessing, I now have 4

Excellent book.

The story is excellent and well researched. Well written, easy to follow...very enjoyable.

I was extremely desapointed with the narrator; her voice was too monotone....I almost stopped listening at the beginning of the book.
I'm glad I decided to listen to the whole book.

Very entertaining!

The author definitely did her homework. If you are an orchid lover you will enjoy this book.

Incredible writing and narration,

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. I learned so much about orchids and the culture.

The intense non fiction detail

Very interesting if you are in south Florida. Go to an orchid show in January or winter!

Great book, OK delivery

The reader's jaunty, affected delivery would be far more appropriate for a comic novel than a work of non-fiction. She is aided greatly by the quality of the text itself.

If you like detail...

A deep dive into the history and horticulture of orchids form the framework of a slow paced, but engaging read. The wildlife and story of the Seminole will entertain and educate you. The story seems secondary to the immersive experience that this true story provides. #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

What happened here?

There are books that make me think that maybe I can write a book and it sell some copies. This is one of those. While it had some interesting factoids included, the rest fell very flat and the ending seemed as if she just gave up. This book was preceded by Bill Brysons "1927" so maybe that had something to do with my disappointment.

Nothing Ever Happens

It started out interesting enough, but nothing ever happens. Orleans is a writer for The New Yorker, and in the end..... and all the way through, it felt like it was really just a really long magazine article. It would have been enjoyable if it were an hour or two... but, it wasn’t for me.
I lived as a transplant in South Florida for several years, so I did find the descriptions of of typical hustler Floridians interesting though.

Would the real Susan Orlean please stand up

I listened to this in addition to reading the book in preparation for a book review. I was surprised at how sarcastic the narration came across in this audio version. It gave me a completely different view of the author and I can't help wondering what the book would have felt like if the author had preformed the audio herself and from which perspective she would present herself. As far as the writing went I appreciated the author's ability to share the diverse personalities, flaws and all, of her subjects and still present a friendly view of them. I learned a huge amount about florida, orchids, smuggling and the people attracted to all three. With so much detail to cover and many tangents to intigrate into the book Orlean's writing style is well suited to the material. The result is a very human view of a odd microcosim within our human family.