I cannot lie - this was a tough one for me to get through. It did suck me in eventually and I'm pleased with the journey I took through this quite strange and obsessive plant-people world. If you like true-crime, read it. ( )

When my pharmacist caught sight of this book, he asked if it was a thriller. That is one thing this book is not. It is, however, a slew of other things. Though it began more or less as Orlean's interest in the trial of one John Laroche, a Florida man caught poaching ghost orchids off park land with a trio of Seminole Indians, it rapidly blossomed into a full-scale investigation of the orchid-loving life. Evidently people go mad for these plants, sort of a "gotta catch 'em all" attitude for the floraphile set. And considering there are tens of thousands of orchid breeds, many costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars and meticulous care, it can become quite the costly and timely pursuit. Sound boring? Surprisingly, it isn't. Perhaps the most fascinating part for me was not the unexpectedly vehement passions of orchid enthusiasts, but rather Orlean's bald-faced judgementalism. It said a lot about her attitudes, and rather than being an impartial observer, she was clearly flabbergasted by the entire orchid culture - indeed, about any passion of that magnitude for anything. Without that air of "OMG look how weird this is" permeating throughout the story, this would have been rather dull. I didn't know the orchid world was so cutthroat, but after you've spent time with sports fanatics and anime fanboys, you realize that there are many things in this world that interest people far more than they do you, and nothing is too unusual to obsess over. ( )

Several years ago a movie was made from this book. Of course, it bears little or no resemblance to what the author wrote about, but I'm grateful for it because otherwise I probably would never have picked up this volume to read.

The book is an expansion of an article the author wrote for The New Yorker about John Laroche an extremely smart and eccentric Floridian who was arrested for stealing rare and endangered orchid from the Fakahatchee State Wildlife Preserve. His theory was that since he was using Seminole Indians to do the actual stealing, and he presumed that they were exempt from state and Federal laws, that the arrest would not hold up in court. He was incorrect in that assumption and the tale might have ended there if Orlean herself had not become fascinated by both Laroche and the strange culture that surrounds plant collectors in general and orchid collectors in particular.

The book is a rambling history of the state of Florida and its development as well as the history of orchids and the lengths that collectors will go to procure a new specimen. If you have ever read Carl Hiassem's thrillers, you'll recognize the models for a bunch of his characters in this book. Florida must truly be populated with eccentrics of all stripes.

This book is a fascinating read. ( )

A book about passion, of which I share similar experience with the author. (In other words, I have never felt the passion that some people feel towards things, such as orchids, but enjoy observing and contemplating people who do have such passions.)

I was introduced to this book through my favorite movie, "Adaptation". This is not the type of book I would normally be caught glancing at in a bookstore, much less actually reading. I couldn't be more glad that I did, though!

"The Orchid Thief" is a thoroughly strange and intriguing tale, with interesting characters and interesting metaphors. Additionally, the facts and statistics and history regarding the incredible passions of certain orchid collectors is an interesting look into the queer and curious mind of humans. The psychological implications of this story had me enraptured, and I marveled at the strange habits and actions of people who share genes nearly identical to my own. Orlean admitted to an astonishment and desire which I can relate to.

She is a master with words, and I felt that hardly a sentence in the entire book couldn't have been described as "beautiful".

I have, in fact, read this book twice now; and I plan to read it a third time in the near future. Although "Adaptation" was a pretty far cry from the story in this book, I can see how cleverly Charlie Kaufman dissected various nuances in the story to create his own twisted version of what may, or may not, have really happened during the author's escapades in the Florida swampland, as she follows John Laroche in his quirky, criminal, and oftentimes genius ways of life. ( )

Very nice prose and a truckload of fascinating facts about orchids (and the crazy peoples who love them) and the state of Florida. Infortunately, the book kind of peter out instead of truly reaching a conclusion. ( )

Nicely done! I had no undue interest in any topic relevant to this book when I started, but I was amazed at how interesting it all was. There was a bit of annoying repetition that about drove me crazy, and a little too much spelling things out, but otherwise, very enjoyable. ( )

This book was orginially a piece for The New Yorker. You can tell the author had trouble stretching the material. Lots o fluff and inconsiquencial details. It felt poorly written and lost my interest, regardless of the topic. ( )

quite possibly the most boring book i've ever read. ( )

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/2... ( )

Somehow this book did not set me on fire. It was OK, but nothing to brag about. ( )

http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2007/04... ( )

A wonderful, wonderful book. "A True Story of Beauty and Obsession" Such a good writer and about a subject I'm fascinated by: obsession. Very good at evoking a place: Florida. The swamps. Nicely structured. ( )

Very interesting peek into the world of people obsessed with orchids. ( )

A good book, too bad a movie was made with the same name. ( )

I never expected to like this book, let alone love it as much as I did. Orlean's story, which forms the basis of the Nicholas Cage film "Adaptation," is a celebration of beauty as much as it is a search for it; Orlean finds the most fascinating character, and follows him in his dark search for the most beautiful orchid. ( )

http://rivkat.livejournal.com/145061.... ( )

Susan Orlean comes off as a pretentious author. The Orchid Thief’s prologue is a (literal) interview with herself about the film, Adaptation. She tries to be funny, but frankly she is not. In a later interview, assuming not just with herself, the interviewer inquires about Orlean constantly portraying herself as the subject in her books. She admits to this and states “well, I am in my stories.” She has written another novel about her world travels called My Kind of Place. Maybe her novels simply do not tailor to my liking, but I do not think I am the type of person who lives vicariously by reading a novel that is actually an ego-booster for a novelist who loves writing about herself. Then again, I am just assuming, and I have not even read the book yet. Nor do I plan to.

My apologies; I am here to review books, not authors.

My boyfriend and I were wandering through Borders when he recommended The Orchid Thief because I am an orchid lover. It is about a man named John Laroche who tries to poach the rare and endangered Ghost Orchid from the Fakahatchee swamp in Florida to clone in a Seminole nursery. The novel also includes stories and histories of orchid hunters, collectors, and major orchid companies. Orlean does a good job making these facts interesting, especially since her writing is vivid in its descriptions of both settings and characters, and her voice is consistent and usually witty. However, her writing is not exactly captivating, but has more of a fairy-tale reporter quality. She also has a habit of repeating character descriptions. For example, she points out how breeders have different ideas on breeding orchids: either mutating the orchids to look more intriguing or breeding them to closer resemble their ancestors. She mentions this observation two or three times, somewhat reminiscent of an old man who constantly repeats the same story to the same person.

If there is one word to describe the book, it is “interesting.” Orlean makes the stories interesting, but that is all the book has going for it- definitely not a page turner. In the Orchid Thief, the author concludes that hardcore hobbyists immerse themselves in their interests to give order to a cluttered and constantly changing universe. Like certain phenotypes, however, Orlean’s theme is not very pronounced throughout the novel. Though the subjects are interesting, the novel itself is extremely overrated and is not anything special. ( )

I would have thrown this book down in boredom if my friend hadn't kept telling me that it gets better, and that it has a lot of twists. Oh wait - she saw the movie that was completley different. ( )

I read this on the recommendation of several someones in the Nero Wolfe book group, and I'm glad I did.

It's a fascinating study (expanded, I think, from an earlier New Yorker article) of the subculture of orchid fanciers in Florida, focusing on one man in particular (the Thief in the title).

If you like books about obsessions, this one's for you. It's got crime, courts, swamps, vivid descriptions of plants, a brief history of how the orchid took the fancy of Victorians and grew from there, and more.

I've read Orlean's book The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup, so I sort of knew what to expect from this one; clear, precise, often witty writing about fascinating people and things.

I never knew orchids were such a big deal. I learned so much when reading this book. Not enough to make me want to trudge through a swamp, but enough to make me want to Google some orchid images for a few hours. I really like books about obsessions. Like mlbish, I was a big fan of Word Freak (Stefan Fatsis). Another book along those same lines is Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz. It's fascinating to me that people can build their lives around something I find rather mundane. ( )

The inspiration for "Adaptation," Orlean's book grew out of a 'New Yorker' article on the theft of various rare orchids in Florida by the too-strange-to-be-fictional John Laroche. It is a fabulous study of orchid culture and "orchid people," and a richly detailed fun read. ( )

7/1/03 Great book and one to read along with Orchid Fever. Both books really capture the allure and fanaticism that one gets with orchids.

There were places in Washington which I truly missed as I left to begin my journey in the Arizona desert. One of those places was a small plot of land encased in glass. This magical place belonged to my sister's husband and behind those walls of glass he nurtured and loved a wondrous collection of orchids. There were times of the year you could visit and as you walked through the door, your reality was transposed to color and light and the most fragile images, some orchids sat suspended with their flowers reaching through the air like a promised whisper. Other's would strut boldly from their austere homes with the confidence of soldiers. It is understandable that while reading "The Orchid Thief", I was often taken back to the memories of this small, enchanting plot of land and I emerged with greater understanding of his love for same. It is seven years from seed to the first bloom of an orchid plant, this can only be the patience which loving something well bestows. When The Orchid Thief first came to the shelves of bookstores, I was intrigued with its premise, but at the same time, leery of its promise. It seemed at once to be a tale of an eccentric orchid collector, but also a textbook of botany and orchid history. It was the last impression which made me keep sidestepping around this book, not sure that such formula would work to keep my interest. I finally gave in to my curiosity and picked it up, and from page one there was no turning back. This is not a book of botany, it is not merely a book about orchids, it is so vast in its scope and offerings that it is many things at once and most of all, it is truly fascinating. In the hands of Orlean, those things which would seem mundane take on a force all their own. It opens the world not only to orchids, this in itself an engrossing subject, but also to human obsessions and the lengths to which we'll stretch to meet them. Orchids have caused as much grief as they have joy through the centuries. They have caused human beings to commit murder in pursuit of rare species, to catapult headlong into the collection of same, forsaking everything else to this one pursuit. Susan Orlean takes you to Florida, and there she introduces you to some of the most prominent people in the orchid industry, the orchid moguls. As well, she doesn't fail to overlook the dreamers, who seem to live on just that, a dream of owning that one very rare species which will transform their lives to one of wealth and fame. But she doesn't stop there, within all these pieces, she also weaves a history of Florida, its native peoples, the land, its fauna and flora. She does this so well that there is never a prosaic moment in this book. I truly found it difficult to put down and always eager to get back too. Interspersed with all the history are tidbits which delight, such as the fact that Darrow, the creater of the world famous boardgame Monopoly, was himself an avid collector of orchids who took his Monopoly money and at the age of 46, retired to devote himself to his orchids. Florida remains today one of North America's largest producers of orchids. Many still grow wild within the confines of the Fakahatchee Strand, but are now protected under the Endangered Species Act. Though the craze of the late 1800's seems to have waned, there is still big business in orchid smuggling and big prices paid for the rarer species. It's early in the year, and I've lots of books to go, but at this point in time, The Orchid Thief is easily slotted for a Top Ten read. I recommend this, you won't be disappointed. ( )