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

Bad Version of This Book

Chapter endings are cut off several seconds before they actually end.

The story itself is great though.

a little too deep, a little too long

I would have enjoyed it more as a short story. It seemed to wander across Florida, with all sorts of tidbits hitch hiking on the orchid story. The reader had times where her voice dripped with sarcasm, and I wasn't sure whether she was amused about the characters or was bored and trying to liven it up a bit.

Interesting in parts, boring in parts

This book was recommended to me because I’m a florist. It was fascinating in some realms, but in others, especially ones talking about the history of trials and the landscape of Florida felt drawn-out and dull. I was sold a nonfiction book that “read more like a novel”, but it definitely read as nonfiction.

Good story, badly read

That whiney, cutesy voice just isn’t right for telling this interesting tale. Who chooses the narrator, anyway? Doesn’t the author have any say? Especially when it’s a first-person narrative?

Loved it!

This is a great story with so much interesting information and history. Great cast of characters!

Interesting History of Florida and Orchids, Narrator NOT so Interesting

This was an interesting history and story about Florida, it’s orchid business and the Seminole Indians. I wish I had read the printed book rather than listened to the Audible book. I did NOT enjoy the narrator for the Audible version at all, She read at a very fast-clipped pace. She also did not pause in places where there should have been a pause for emphasis or topic change.

Fascinating story well told and narrated

I recently read this book after seeing the movie ADAPTATION which is exactly that, an adaptation of this book. It's a wonderful book about a man obsessed by orchids and it's about orchids, obsession, and also veers off into the history of Florida real estate to boot. I found it to be a fascinating 'journey' about things that don't usually interest me in the least. It's very well written and researched and it's also very unusual and hard to describe since it's not really a story but more of a quest to discover what motivates people. Highly recommended, it was exactly the kind of book that translates well into an audiobook, easy to follow and full of navigations off the beaten path. A real pleasure.

Good Story, Bad Editing

I enjoyed this story but found the narrator tried too hard and read too fast giveing the listener the feeling of being pushed to listen. Also the editor of Format 4 cut words off when putting the chapters together (about 10 times in the first 48 minutes)..this is extremely annoying! Not a progessional production.

orchids?

an interesting history of Florida and orchids along with the people involved. I'm not sure it was my type of entertainment but I'm certainly not sorry I bought it. Nice narration by Jennifer Meyers.

Interesting true story, but technical issues at beginning

The story is interesting, especially to someone with a basic understanding of law and conflicts of law. However, the first few chapters were extremely difficult to listen to as they were poorly spliced together. Further, there weren’t clearly delineated breaks between chapters, which made it hard to follow at times while listening. The overall quality improved as the story went on and the voices given to each character were consistently good.