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  • The Orchid Thief

  • A True Story of Beauty and Obsession
  • By: Susan Orlean
  • Narrated by: Jennifer Meyers
  • Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (14 ratings)

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The Orchid Thief

By: Susan Orlean
Narrated by: Jennifer Meyers
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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

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

What listeners say about The Orchid Thief

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Hooks you in because it’s different

When so many books are same same, this kept me interested until the end.

I would recommend

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Surprisingly interesting

Absolutely wonderful twists and turns, I feel smarter having learnt about the surprisingly deep world of orchids and those that obsess over them.

I came into this book blind, having picked it up in a second hand bookstore and deciding that listening to the audiobook would be the only way I would ever read it. I'm so glad I finally took the plunge and have recommended this to a wide variety of people since

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Surprisingly enjoyable

I love the way the author engaged my senses. I could see, smell, feel, hear, and experience the story as it happened. Orchids are a special flower so I enjoyed learning their history and more about the show scene. As a bonus I also got to learn more about the illegal animal trade, the history of Florida and its people. That’s for writing this fascinating book.

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