The Orchid Thief

A True Story of Beauty and Obsession

By: Susan Orlean

Narrated by: Anna Fields

The Orchid Thief is the true story of John Laroche, an obsessed Florida plant dealer willing to go to any lengths to steal rare and protected wild orchids and clone them, all for a tidy profit.

But the morality of Laroche's actions do not drive the narrative of Orlean's strange, compelling, and hilarious book. She is much more interested in the spectacle this unusual man creates through his actions, including one of the oddest legal controversies in recent memory, which brought together environmentalists, Native American activists, and devoted orchid collectors.

She follows Laroche deep into Florida's swamps, tapping into not only the psyche of the deeply opinionated Laroche but also the wider subculture of orchid collectors, including aristocrats, fanatics, and smugglers whose obsession with plants is all-consuming. Orlean portrays the weirdness of it all in wonderful detail, but, ultimately, the book is primarily about passion itself and the amazing lengths to which people will go to gratify it.

©1998 Susan Orlean (P)2002 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"Stylishly written, whimsical yet sophisticated, quirkily detached...It shows Orlean's gifts in full bloom." ( New York Times Book Review)

Unique history of unconquered Seminoles.

Great history of Seminoles and their land. Interesting due to research and truth of the area.

Good.

Story fasinating. Narration perfect. Abridged works well for this book. Movie Adaptation was expanded to be Hollywood, and that made it also good.

What a treat!

After seeing the movie Adaptation which was inspired by Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief, I opted for this abridged version as I much preferred Anna Fields’ narration over the unabridged. And golly, what a treat! This is my first public book review and I can’t recommend this audiobook enough. Susan Orlean’s description of the history and bitchy world of the Florida orchid scene is mouth-wateringly rich, lyrical, funny and inspiring. And the character of La Roche is up there with Don Quixote, Catcher in the Rye’s William Caulfield, Thr Big Lebowski and Charlie Brown. Go for it!

Great characters

Susan Orlean could describe people and places so well that it was as if you were there. The narration was spot on, as if I were reading to myself. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Depressing with awful narration

Painful to hear about people using nature for their own gain with no thought of the effect on the natural world.. The soulless narration makes this very depressing.. Not one word of this book speaks to the heart or evokes nature"s true beauty.